Cuffed
by Mrs Sheppard18
Summary: When Steve and Danny find themselves at the mercy of a revenge-seeking criminal, it's up to Chin and Kono to find them before it's too late. Steve whump, Danny whump.
1. Chapter 1

Cuffed

_Summary:_ _When Steve and Danny find themselves at the mercy of a revenge-seeking criminal, it's up to Chin and Kono to find them before it's too late. Steve whump, Danny whump._

_A/N:__ Not the most creative title, I know, this is just a whump idea I wanted to write down to break up the monotony that is assignments so I hope you enjoy the results of my procrastinating! :)_

_Set late Season 2 but before the finale._

_Disclaimer:__ Still don't own anything related to the Hawaii Five-0 franchise._

oOo

As the sun slowly started to descend towards the horizon, its rays cast vivid colours across the Hawaiian sky, lighting it up with an array of pinks, yellows and reds, which in turn were reflected across the water lapping at the sandy beaches. Tourists and locals alike were still gathered on the beach or in waterfront cafes and restaurants to soak in the natural beauty that accompanied the day's end. The same golden rays filtered through the trees that surrounded the quiet stretch of the Pali highway seeming to cast a glittering halo around them, though the spectacular view went unnoticed by the two arguing men seated in the silver Camaro.

"I'm just saying that while I have control of the car I should also have control of the radio," Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett argued as he sat behind the wheel of his partner's Camaro.

"Uh, uh, uh," Detective Danny Williams shook his head adamantly. "If you're in control of the radio we'll more than likely end up listening to that 'Sexy Eyes' rubbish, which _you_ claim is catchy."

"Right, but listening to Bon Jovi constantly is fine?" Steve countered.

"Absolutely," Danny nodded as Steve shook his head in disagreement.

"Not happening," Steve stated as he turned the radio off, cutting short the guitar solo of Bon Jovi's 'Living on a Prayer'. "That is staying off while I am in this car."

"Fine," Danny conceded, "at least it lowers our chances of hearing 'Sexy Eyes' on the radio."

The friendly argument which had started when the opening notes of 'Living on a Prayer' had sounded through the cars speakers, was a way for the two to blow off some steam after a hectic few days at work. After wrapping up a case on Wednesday, Five-0 was back in action on Thursday morning when a witness, Monica Brennan, who was supposed to be testifying against a local drug dealer, Ricky Ortega, had failed to show up in court. A search of the woman's safe house hadn't turned up anything and held no clue as to whether she had accepted a bribe and run or was forcibly taken from the house.

After a day of trying to connect her disappearance to the drug dealers with nothing but dead ends, the woman's body was discovered in a dumpster by a park in Ala Moana in the early hours of Friday morning. The woman had taken a beating before she was shot twice in the chest.

While it hadn't been the break Five-0 had been looking for, it didn't take Max long to find her assailant's DNA under her finger nails. The DNA had come back to a Peter Brennan who was in the system for a string of robberies from his teen years and early adulthood and was the husband of Monica Brennan.

After looking into her statement she had given to the police about what she had witnessed, Five-0 had discovered that Monica Brennan was involved with one of the men who distributed drugs for the cartel run by Ricky Ortega and had been him when Ortega had killed the man in cold blood for skimming some of the drugs he was meant to be distributing. After witnessing the murder from their car, she had driven straight to HPD to report the crime before she was whisked away by federal marshals and placed in protective custody.

From their investigation, they had discovered that Peter Brennan, a computer programmer, had managed to hack into the system and find out what his wife had witnessed and how, in the process learning of her affair.

After leaving a less than discreet money trail as he tried to flee the island, Five-0 had tracked Peter Brennan to a private airstrip as he attempted to board a plane to the mainland on Friday morning. Brennan was killed when he drew the murder weapon on them as they came to arrest him and Danny was forced to put two in his chest. The rest of the day had been filled with the tedious job of filling out all the paperwork involved in the case along with making final family notifications and all four team members were relieved when they could finally call it a week.

Silence filled the Camaro after the abrupt end to their dispute over each other's musical tastes and Danny watched the greenery fly past them through the passenger side window. They had been forced to take the more scenic route home in order to inform Monica Brennan's family of the conclusion to the case; the less than enjoyable experience was also a reason for the two men to need to blow off some steam.

"So do you have any big plans for your weekend with Grace?" Steve asked to break the silence, knowing that the mention of his partner's daughter would put Danny in a better mood.

The result was immediate as Danny smiled at the thought of Grace. "I'm picking her up tomorrow morning with Gabby; she wants to take us somewhere for a surprise. I told her that so long as it doesn't involve much swimming or pineapple pizzas it would be okay."

Steve smiled, glad that his partner had finally overcome his worries about how Gabrielle Asano and his daughter might get along. After the dinner Danny had organised to introduce the two ladies in his life, they had been spending far more time out together, almost like a normal family would.

"Why aren't you picking her up this afternoon like usual?" Steve had wondered that fact when Danny had invited himself over to Steve's for a few beers at the end of the week.

"Some of Rachel's family is in town to visit the baby," he explained with as little expression as possible. "She wanted her to go out to dinner with them; to be honest I'm surprised I managed to get time with her at all this weekend."

Steve nodded before moving the subject away from Danny's ex-wife, knowing it wasn't the easiest topic for his partner to discuss. "So do you have any idea where Gabby might be taking you two?"

Whatever Danny's suspicions may have been as to his girlfriend's plans for their weekend would remain unknown as the conversation was interrupted when a dark SUV appeared suddenly on the driver's side of the Camaro, heading in their direction at a high speed.

"Steve!" Danny's yell of warning was unnecessary as Steve was already pulling hard at the steering wheel in an attempt to move out of the SUV's path but the speed of the other vehicle was too great and it ploughed into the side of the Camaro with a deafening crash, violently jerking the two occupants.

The sound of crunching metal and screeching tires filled the deserted road as the SUV came to an abrupt halt, having already accomplished its mission; the large bull-bar on the front of the vehicle meant that there was only minimal damage sustained to the SUV, the same, however, could not be said for the Camaro.

The force of the impact had forced the car to skid intothe guardrail that ran alongside the road. For a moment it appeared as though the guardrail would prevent them from falling any further, but the weight of the vehicle slowly forced it over the rail to land on the roof before continuing the roll to come to a stop the right way up in the small ditch beside the road, the wheels hitting the ground with a sickening crash. The impact had been to the driver's side of the car near the front wheel base and had resulted in the side of the car crumpling inwards along most of the front left hand side of the Camaro. Both occupants of the car sat unmoving and slumped in their seatbelts.

The remoteness of the road meant that no one was around to witness the three men wearing ski masks who dragged the two unconscious members of Five-0 from the totalled Camaro and into the awaiting SUV before disappearing into the approaching night.

oOo

_A/N:__ Well what did you think? Should I continue? Please leave a review to let me know what you thought! :)_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Wow, I really can't thank you guys enough for the amazing response to the first chapter, I was absolutely blown away! And thank you to those whose reviews I'm unable to respond to! I hope you all enjoy the second chapter. Should also give a shout out to my unofficial beta and amazing sister Pantherfan16 for her proof-reading and encouragement! :)_

oOo

The first thing that Steve noticed when he began to regain consciousness was the pounding in his head and he couldn't contain the groan that escaped as he shifted slightly in his seat. In his seat; Steve realised he was sitting on something hard with his head leaning forward against his chest. Moving his arms slightly he noticed they were on either side of the chair and stretched out behind him. As his focus drifted to his hands he realised there was something cold and hard encircling them tightly and he became more alert as adrenalin started to pump through his system at the realisation they were handcuffs.

Steve forced his eyes open, managing to stifle a second groan as the dim light from the room he was in made the throbbing in his head intensify. He squinted in the low lighting and made out a small room, maybe six meters by five, with concrete walls and a set of wooden stairs leading up to a door. Most likely a cleared out basement, Steve assessed.

His thoughts were fuzzy as he tried to think why he would be in this situation and why his head felt like it was on the verge of exploding. He remembered leaving work with Danny, planning to have a few beers at his place; they'd been arguing about something and discussing Danny's plans for his weekend with Grace. Then the image of the black SUV appearing out of nowhere came to mind and he remembered the bone-jarring force as it had slammed into the driver's side of Danny's Camaro.

Danny. His eyes snapped open wide at the thought of his partner, the concern for Danny overpowering the pain that the sudden move had caused. He pulled at the cuffs which seemed to have more give in them than he had been expecting and he felt something warm brush against his left hand. Whatever it was brushed his hand again and he grabbed it in order to determine what it was. As his fingers closed around it he realised it was a hand; Danny, he surmised, assuming the other cuff to the handcuff currently around his hand was attached to Danny's wrist. Ignoring the throbbing in his skull and the rest of his body, Steve craned his neck to the left to try and get a glimpse of his partner.

"Danny? Danny?" He called quietly, squeezing the hand slightly to get a reaction but there was no response. His concern growing, Steve moved his grip on Danny's hand until his fingers rested against the cuff located around Danny's wrist and pressed down to feel for a pulse. Steve relaxed slightly as he felt a steady beat beneath his fingers and he let go of his partner's hand.

Now that he was sure that his partner was okay, relatively speaking anyway, Steve began to catalogue his own injuries. His head was throbbing with a vengeance and there was a sharp pain along the hairline above his left eye where the headache was emanating from and he could feel the stickiness of drying blood on that side of his face. If the nausea he got when he moved his head was any indication, he more than likely had a concussion as a result of the head injury. His left ankle was also particularly sore and felt tight inside his boot, indicating that it was swollen, whether it was a sprain or a broken bone he wasn't sure, though he was being optimistic and leaning towards the former. His neck felt stiff and sore but he knew from previous experience that the dull ache he was experiencing was merely mild whip-lash and not a serious neck injury.

Steve's cargos were torn in places on the left of his leg and he could see some minor cuts and bruising underneath from the impact of the car; his left arm was in a similar condition. His ribs were also aching painfully, though it was nothing he couldn't handle for the time-being. His right side had fared much better than his left and there only appeared to be a few minor cuts and bruises. It seemed the seatbelt had saved him from any more serious injuries and he took a moment to be grateful for that.

He craned his neck to the left and right again to try to determine exactly what predicament he and his partner had landed themselves in. From what he could see of behind him, the chair he was seated on was pushed against a concrete pillar located in the middle of the room. Judging by the way he was handcuffed to Danny, he assumed his partner was in a chair on the opposite side of the pillar with their hands cuffed together around each side of it. A tug of his right leg told him that his ankles were secured to the chair legs using what felt like plastic ties.

There was dim light leaking into the room from somewhere behind him and he was concerned at how long they had remained unconscious for it to now be daytime. He pulled at the handcuffs again but was only able to move his arms an inch or two forward without pulling Danny's arms beyond breaking point.

The motion he caused by pulling the cuffs must have disturbed Danny enough to bring him closer to consciousness as Steve heard a groan coming from somewhere behind him.

"Danny?" He called, this time more confident that he would get a response. Danny groaned softly again and Steve felt his arms move slightly as Danny attempted to move his own arms. "Danny?" He called a bit louder this time.

"Steve?" Danny's voice was husky courtesy of his dry throat as he was finally able to register who the insistent voice calling his name belonged to.

"Danny," Steve didn't hide the relief that seeped into his tone as his partner finally came to. "It's about time you woke up, Partner."

"Well I'm certainly starting to regret it," Danny groaned softly again in response to whoever was beating the inside of his head with a sledgehammer. "What the hell happened?" He winced as he opened his eyes and blinked several times to take in his blurry surroundings. The solid concrete wall a few feet in front of him gave him no clue, so he waited for Steve's response to find some answers.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Steve asked, he himself had no idea what had happened after the other vehicle had ploughed into the side of their car and was hoping his partner may have remained conscious for long enough after the crash to have some idea of what was going on.

Danny frowned as he thought back to his last memory, doing his best to ignore the pain in his head, "You having no respect for classic rock," he recalled their argument about Bon Jovi.

"Nothing after that?" Steve's hopes that his partner may have remembered what had transpired after the crash dropped at Danny's response.

"No, why? What happened?" Danny repeated his earlier question. "And where the hell are we?"

"We were t-boned by another vehicle," Steve answered the first question, "and as for where we are, I'd guess in a basement somewhere; I have no idea where. Are you okay?" Steve tried to get a glimpse of his partner again but the pillar was obstructing his view.

"Am I okay?" Danny asked incredulously. "You just told me that my car got t-boned and that we are now sitting in a basement somewhere on this Godforsaken island. I'm handcuffed around some pole and my head feels like it's about to explode, and you ask if I'm okay? No! I am not okay!" Danny regretted raising his voice as the sound reverberated around his head and added to the pounding.

"What I meant is; are you injured?" Steve refrained from rolling his eyes at his partner's rant, knowing that the movement would be wasted anyway. "Besides the head," he added.

Danny sighed, understanding that his partner would be concerned and so he humoured him, "Like you already know, my head hurts like hell, though I don't feel like I'm gonna be sick, yet anyway," he added as his stomach betrayed him and rolled uncomfortably.

"Anything else?" Steve pressed, he already realised Danny had some sort of head injury.

"My chest hurts; I'm guessing that's from the seatbelt and my right shoulder's pretty sore too," he winced and hissed softly as he moved it slightly to assess the pain, "not to mention my ACL is hurting like a bitch," he added.

Steve winced slightly in sympathy, having forgotten about his partner's far from perfect ACL. "What about your neck?" He asked, concerned that Danny may have sustained a far more sinister injury as a result of the crash.

"It's fine; sure it's a little whip-lashed but it doesn't hurt enough to be anything serious; besides if it _was_ something serious I probably wouldn't be sitting here talking to you right now, 'cause somehow I don't think whoever the hell dragged us out of the car would have done it very gracefully."

Steve breathed a small sigh of relief at his partner's answer.

"What about you?" Danny asked, his concern growing as he remembered that Steve had been on the side of the car that had borne the brunt of the impact.

"I'm fine," Steve responded automatically.

Danny rolled his eyes and instantly regretted it, "Of course you are. So I'm guessing the car must be a wreck," Danny changed the subject, annoyed at the thought of what his car must currently look like. "You're paying the repair bill," he muttered to his partner.

"Me? Why do I have to pay the bill? I wasn't the one who drove another car into the side of it," Steve defended himself indignantly as the ache in his head increased.

"No you didn't," Danny conceded, "you _are_, however, always the cause of bad things happening, my trouble magnet friend, ergo _you_ will be paying for the damage done to _my_ car which _you_ drive ninety percent of the time anyway."

"Well in that case I should only be paying _ninety_ percent of the repair bill," Steve reasoned, the normal bickering between the two was almost enough of a distraction to ignore their current circumstance and the accompanying unease.

"No, no, no, no, my friend," Danny decided that shaking his head was definitely a bad idea as the throbbing increased ten-fold and he stilled his head as he continued, "because I'm sure that it's _one hundred percent_ your fault that we are currently sitting in a basement, handcuffed around a pole with our heads bashed in from a car crash. And not just handcuffed around a pole but I am handcuffed to _you _around a pole; talk about cruel and inhumane punishment."

"Cruel and inhumane punishment?" Steve had an incredulous look plastered across his face, which unfortunately his partner couldn't see. "I'm the one who has his hands cuffed to a guy who speaks _ninety percent_ with his hands!" Steve complained about the constant tug at his arms and shoulders as his partner attempted to accentuate each spoken syllable with his hands.

"Well they wouldn't be handcuffed if it weren't for you," Danny was adamant.

"So you say," Steve had the last word in the argument as neither man wanted to exacerbate their headaches by continuing.

The partners sat in relative silence for a few moments, each man taking a few more moments to familiarise themselves with their surroundings, before bright light filled the basement causing both men to wince when the light assaulted their eyes as the door located at the top of the wooden staircase opened.

oOo

Chin was woken by a bright ray of sun that had managed to find its way between the hastily drawn curtains as it lit up the bedroom of his small, one story house. He smiled as his eyes focused on the still sleeping form of his wife where she was laying on the bed next to him. After several weeks of married life he still never tired of waking up to find her next to him.

Knowing now that he was awake he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, he slowly raised himself from the bed, being careful not to wake Malia in the process. It wasn't always that the two of them had a Saturday off together, with him more than often working a case and Malia frequently being called into the hospital and he was going to make the most of it by making his wife breakfast in bed.

He glanced at the clock as he made his way into the kitchen and started to boil the water for coffee, noticing that it was close to eight-thirty. He moved around the kitchen as quietly as possible to avoid alerting his wife as to what he was up to, but the sound of his name had him looking up to find Malia in the doorway, her curly hair ruffled from sleep.

"Chin?" She said again as he looked up from where he had been searching through a drawer for a frying pan. "Your phone's gone off twice since I've woken up," she looked slightly disappointed, knowing that the odds were he was being called into work.

Chin sighed, assuming the same thing as he crossed the floor between them and took his phone from her, thanking her in the process. Glancing at the screen he saw that he had three missed calls from the same unknown number. He frowned at it, having expected to see McGarrett's or even Danny's or Kono's name and he started to doubt that he was being called in on a case.

Pressing the dial button, Chin placed the phone to his ear as it started to ring. He was surprised when it was picked up after just half a ring and was even more surprised when the person on the other end of the line answered.

"_Chin? Is that you?"_ The woman's English accent alerted him as to who it was he was speaking to.

"Rachel?" He asked, surprise written over his face; he had next to no contact with his team mate's ex-wife and he had trouble understanding why she would be calling him on a Saturday morning, though the twisting in his gut told him that it most likely wasn't a good thing. Next to him, Malia frowned, recognising the name Rachel as she also wondered why the woman would be calling.

"_Thank God,"_ she breathed down the line. _"I'm sorry to call you on a weekend, Lieutenant Kelly, but I was wondering if you had heard from Danny this morning?"_

"No I haven't," Chin frowned slightly as he responded. "Hasn't he picked up Grace yet?" Chin asked, knowing that Danny had been looking forward to his weekend with his daughter.

"_No, he hasn't, he was supposed to be here almost an hour and a half ago_," Rachel sounded worried as she replied. _"I've tried calling him and I even called Dr. Asano and she said he didn't show up at her place this morning either. I also tried calling Commander McGarrett on the number Danny gave me for him but he hasn't been answering either. Danny had programmed your number into Grace's cell phone, so I thought I should try calling you."_

Chin's concern grew at her hurried statement, knowing that both Danny and Steve always kept their phones on them. "Okay, Rachel," his calm voice belied the worry that was growing in him as he attempted to keep the woman calm, "Danny went to Steve's last night for a few beers, he may have had too many and is still there," though even as he said it he knew his friend wouldn't drink much the evening before his weekend with Grace. "I'll head over there now and see if I can find them and I'll have Kono check on the hotel where Danny's staying."

"_Okay_," Rachel seemed to have calmed down slightly as she answered.

"I'll call you once I've found him," Chin promised.

"_Thank you, Chin_," was all she said before the line went dead.

Malia was frowning in concern after hearing one side of the conversation. "Is everything alright, Chin?"

"Steve and Danny aren't answering their cell phones," he stated, "I'm going to head over to Steve's and see if I can find out what's going on." He did his best to keep his concern from showing in his voice, but Malia easily picked up on it as she rubbed a hand over her husband's back.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

Chin smiled at her, loving the way she seemed to be able to read him, but he shook his head. "No, it's okay, you stay here; it's probably nothing," he kissed her quickly before heading to their room to get dressed.

As he headed back out to the door she called to him as he passed her, "I'll call Kono and have her head over to Danny's place," she offered and Chin smiled.

"Thank you, I'll also have her call HPD to get them to run a GPS trace on their cell phones."

Malia nodded again and followed him to the doorway, "I'll pass the message on to her; go," she could see he was eager to get away. He smiled at her understanding and stole one last kiss from her before leaving the house.

TBC

oOo


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: So this is a tad earlier than I promised, I figured you guys wouldn't mind ;)_

oOo

A figure emerged through the doorway and Steve squinted against the light in an attempt to see who it was to determine the reason they had been brought here. When the door shut behind him and the light dimmed again, Steve managed to see the face of the man who was the cause of everything and he was shocked to realise he didn't recognise who the stranger was. From behind him, Danny attempted to twist in his seat in order to see their captor but the pillar all but blocked his view.

The man appeared to be somewhere in his mid-forties, Steve assessed, a scruffy, unkempt beard covered the bottom of his face which matched his messy, light brown hair. The plain tee he was wearing displayed muscular arms and Steve noticed he was of about average height, five-eight maybe five-nine. Steve clenched his jaw in anger when he noticed his own SIG Sauer tucked into the back of the man's waistband.

"It's about time you cops woke up; I was starting to think those idiots I hired had put you in some sort of coma," he spoke in a low voice as he reached the bottom of the stairs and came to stand in front of Steve, with Danny still craning his neck in an attempt to get a visual of their attacker.

"Who the hell are you?" Steve kept his voice strong as he frowned at the stranger before him, doing his best to keep his imposing figure, something that wasn't easy when you were handcuffed to a chair and more than likely concussed.

The man before him smiled slightly and moved to Steve's left, giving Danny a glimpse of their captor. "I'm not surprised you don't see the resemblance," he admitted, "most people had a hard time seeing that Pete was related to me when we were growing up; I always blamed the eight years between us."

Steve and Danny both frowned at his admission.

"Pete?" Danny repeated. "You mean Peter Brennan?" Danny remembered their most recent case.

Peter Brennan's brother smiled darkly at Danny's question and moved further into his line of sight. "Very good, Detective," he acknowledged with a tip of his head.

"Matthew Brennan," Steve recalled the name he had read on the file they had pulled on Peter Brennan that had listed one of his only two living relatives. Steve also recalled he had only recently been serving time in Halawa Correctional for assault and battery with known connections to a local drug ring run by none other than Ricky Ortega, the same man Monica Brennan was supposed to testifying against.

Matthew Brennan smiled darkly at Steve in response, "So you did come across my name when you were tracking down Pete."

Steve and Danny remained silent as the reason for their abduction became apparent, the tone expressed by Brennan making his intentions towards them clear.

Brennan ignored their silence as he continued, "I knew that something had happened to Pete when he wouldn't answer his cell; he was s'posed to be meeting me about a job I needed him for." His anger was now openly seeping into his words as he addressed the two members of Five-0. "Then he finally gives me a call to say that Five-0 are after him and he needs my help, so I get in the car only twenty minutes later to hear on the radio that he was killed when Five-0 was sent to make an arrest," he spat the words 'Five-0' as he yelled.

"Your brother murdered his wife in cold blood," Steve's voice was low as he suppressed his rage at being held against his will by a criminal seeking revenge.

"That bitch had been cheating on him for months!" Brennan cut Steve off, "he told me his suspicions in his letters when I was still in Halawa; she deserved everything she got!"

"And so did your brother!" Steve couldn't stop himself from snapping back in anger.

Brennan's retaliation wasn't completely unexpected, but Steve failed to see the fist before it ploughed into the left side of his jaw, the hard blow snapping his head to the right and jerking his body in the chair.

"Sonofabitch!" Danny hissed as he felt the cuffs pull at his arms as Steve's body jerked at the sudden impact, and he found himself inwardly annoyed at his idiotic partner for aggravating the man holding them captive, though his concern trumped his annoyance as he called out, "Steve?"

Steve's vision was filled with black spots for a moment as the impact to his jaw and the sudden movement made the pain in his head blossom and the nausea in his gut to intensify. He took a few seconds to compose himself and clear his vision before turning back to Brennan, his jaw now throbbing in time with his head.

Danny saw his partner sit back up in his chair out of the very corner of his eye and he felt a wave of relief that was short-lived under their current circumstance. He strained his neck as far to his right as he could in order to see Brennan, who was gazing at Steve with a look of satisfaction and anger.

"My brother didn't deserve to be gunned down by a self righteous cop!" Brennan snarled once he had regained Steve's eye-contact. "And whichever one of you pulled the trigger is going to pay for murdering my brother," he threatened as he glanced between his two captives and Danny was momentarily stunned into silence when he realised that it was because of him that he and his partner were now at the mercy of a revenge-driven criminal. "I know it was one of you two, I saw you on TV; so which one of you pulled the trigger?"

Danny's momentary silence gave Steve the time to get his word in first. "That would be me," his lie was convincing as he kept his voice firm and even while glaring at the criminal in front of him.

A twisted grin appeared on Brennan's face following Steve's false admission. "I expected as much."

"Wait, wait!" Danny finally found his voice, angry that Steve would throw himself under the bus for him, the self-sacrificing idiot. "He's lying! I'm the one who shot your brother!" He kept his neck craned to the right in order to maintain eye contact with Brennan.

Brennan's gaze flicked to the detective at his statement, frowning as he tried to determine which man was telling the truth.

"Danny," Steve frowned slightly as he glanced behind him quickly, trying to express in his voice that he should keep quiet and let him handle this, after all, he was the one who had the training in how to deal with this kind of situation, and as the team leader he was prepared to take the consequences of any one of his team mate's actions.

"Steven," Danny replied stubbornly, his tone let Steve know that there was no way he was going to sit back and let his partner take the blame for something he himself had done.

"So which one of you was it?" Brennan grew frustrated, not able to determine which man was lying.

"Me," Steve and Danny chorused together, each man looking annoyed that the other was not listening to what they wanted them to do.

"Fine," Brennan stated, cold determination replacing his anger. "I guess I'm going to have to be more persuasive."

Steve was somewhat prepared this time as Brennan lashed out again, this time with his left hand, and the fist connected with the opposite side of his jaw to the last blow and he was jolted to the left.

"Stop!" Danny yelled as his partner let a muffled grunt of pain escape and the cuffs again pulled at his wrists. "I told you already; it was me!"

"No, he's lying," Steve was able to keep his voice steady, pushing the pain to the back of his mind as he focused on his current situation, doing his best to convince Brennan it was him telling the truth.

"Shut up, Steve!" Danny was desperate for Brennan to believe it was him who had pulled the trigger, not able to sit and listen to his partner face the consequences for his actions. Danny couldn't do anything as Brennan drove his fist into his partner's body once again, this time in the gut and Danny heard Steve gasp as he was winded and he doubled over as far as the restraints would allow.

Brennan stepped back for a moment, staying within eyesight of both men as he spoke, "You're going to tell me who it was," he stated, sure he was going to get the answer he wanted. "I'm not going to stop until you're both telling me the same answer."

Steve sat back up in his chair as he slowly worked on getting his breath back, silently pleading with Danny to say that it was him, while Danny was silently asking the same thing of Steve.

Brennan moved forward towards Steve again, clenching his fist threateningly as he repeated his question, "Which one of you pulled the trigger?"

oOo

The first thing that Chin noticed when he pulled his motorbike up out the front of McGarrett's house was there was no sign of Danny's Camaro parked in the drive and upon closer inspection, Chin couldn't find any indication that it had even been there at all, as there were no tire marks in the soggy ground by the driveway where he usually parked.

Chin quickly made his way to the front door and tested the handle finding that it was securely locked, peering through the window by the door he could see that the alarm system was activated. He knocked loudly on the door while calling out Steve's name several times, but there was no answer.

He moved around to the back of the house and tried the doors leading in from the beach but again there was no reply. Looking through the glass panels on the door he couldn't see any signs that either man had been in the house recently and the knot in his stomach became harder to ignore.

He turned away from the house as his phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out to see that it was Kono who was calling him. "Hey, Kono. Did Malia call you?" He didn't waste any time in finding answers.

"_Yeah she did, I'm at Danny's hotel room now and his car's not here and there's no sign he's been in his room. I spoke to the person at the front desk and she said she's been here all night but she doesn't remember him coming in at all. And I had HPD run a GPS search for their cells like you asked but they couldn't find a signal,"_ Chin could easily hear the concern in his cousin's voice. _"What the hell's going on, Chin? Did you find anything at Steve's place?"_

"No, there's no sign that anyone's been here recently; the doors are locked and the alarm's still activated," he was distracted as his phone beeped to alert him that another call was coming in. "Hang on one minute, Kono, I'm getting another call," Chin didn't wait for her reply as he quickly looked at the second caller's ID and answered the incoming call. "Kelly, I'm sorry, Duke but this isn't the best time," he greeted Sergeant Duke Lukela.

"_Chin, this will only take a moment_," Duke stated shortly, _"and you may be interested."_

"What is it?" Chin didn't want to sound rude but he had no time for preamble this morning.

"_What is Detective Williams' license plate number?"_ Duke asked quickly, causing Chin to frown.

Taking a moment to think, Chin replied, "Delta, victor, two, three, nine, nine. Why?"

"_My partner and I were called to a traffic accident along the Pali Highway this morning; it's a silver Camaro and the plates match Detective Williams'."_

"Are Steve and Danny there? Are they okay?" Chin responded quickly, relief that they had found them over-weighed by the concern of having discovered there had been some sort of accident.

"_I was hoping you may have known something about what happened_," Duke replied, _"there's no sign of Detective Williams or Commander McGarrett; it looks like this was a hit and run."_

Chin frowned as the knot in his stomach tightened but he ignored his worry for now as his mind clicked back into operation mode. "Text me your exact position and Kono and I will meet you there," he quickly made his way back to his to his motorbike.

"_Right away,"_ Duke replied and Chin quickly hung up and switched back to Kono's line.

"_Chin, who was that?" _Kono had been hoping it was either Steve or Danny calling in to explain their where they had been all morning.

"That was Duke; he's out at a traffic accident on the Pali Highway, the car involved is Danny's Camaro, they think it was a hit and run," he explained quickly as he reached his bike.

"_Oh my God,"_ Kono gasped at the unexpected news. "_Are they okay? Have they been taken to the hospital?"_

"They weren't at the scene, I'm heading out there now to help Duke," he stated briefly.

"_What? Then where the hell are they?"_ Kono also felt her unease grow, knowing that neither Danny nor McGarrett would walk away from a crime scene.

"That's what we're going to find out," Chin was determined as he swung his leg over the seat of his bike, "I'll send you Duke's position then I'll meet you out there."

"_I'm on my way,"_ Kono confirmed as she ran the last few meters back to her car to join the search.

TBC

oOo

_A/N: So we never hear about Duke having a partner in the show but I wanted to write one into this story anyway._

_Well I hope you enjoyed getting a few answers in this chapter, I'll have the next chapter up sometime next week. Thanks for reading!_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews and alerts for this story, and to those whose reviews I can't respond to; thank you! It's an extra long chapter this time :)_

oOo

Danny fought back the urge to scream and yell and swear as the sick sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed around the room again accompanied by Steve's pain-filled grunt. He had learnt after the first few punches had been thrown that they didn't do anything to stop Brennan's assault on his partner and no matter how many times he tried to tell him he was the one who had killed his brother, he wouldn't stop until Steve confirmed it, something that Steve was quite obviously never going to admit.

After a final punch connected solidly with Steve's chest, Brennan stood back panting, his fists grazed from the punches he had thrown. After working off some of his anger, whether it was directed at the right man or not, Brennan decided that he needed a break for a while. He looked down at the man in the chair before him, pleased to see that he was having a hard time hanging onto consciousness as blood ran from his nose and mouth and from a small cut along his right cheek bone.

"When I get back you two had better have your answer figured out," he stated mostly to Danny as he headed back to the stairs leading out of the basement. Danny responded by glaring fiercely at him but kept his mouth shut tight as he watched him go, not wanting to aggravate the man further.

As soon as the door to the basement shut and the lock clicked loudly, Danny craned his neck to the right as he tried to see what kind of condition his partner was in. "Steve?" He called, concern plain in his voice. He could see that his partner was slumped forward slightly in his chair and the cuffs around his wrists were straining as Steve fought to sit upright. "Steve?" He called again.

"I'm still here," he heard Steve pant out as he managed to pull himself upright to lean against the pillar. Brennan's assault hadn't been long but he certainly knew how to throw a punch and Steve needed a few moments to get his breathing back under control. If his head had been sore before it certainly didn't hold a candle to how much it was currently aching and he kept his eyes shut as he waited for the pain and nausea to return to a manageable level.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Danny whispered fiercely to his partner once he could hear that Steve was breathing easier behind him.

"It's not gonna matter either way, Danny," Steve rested his head against the pillar with his eyes shut as he spoke, taking as deep a breaths that his ribs would allow. "If he finds out who killed Peter he's just going to do the same to you then put a bullet in both of our heads and be on his way. Keeping quiet about it buys us some time."

"And who decided that you were the one that gets to play the self-sacrificing idiot, huh?" Danny would trade places with his partner in a heartbeat rather than be forced to listen to his partner pay for his actions.

"I do, no discussion," Steve stated shortly.

"No, there is not 'no discussion', Steven," Danny refused to let the matter slide, "We're partners, and a part of a partnership is _agreeing_ to a plan of action."

"My team, my rules," was all Steve said in response, before adding, "I can take it."

"While I have no problem believing that your thick, navy-issued skull can withstand anything, you're forgetting that you just had it bashed in by a car crash and most likely already had a concussion!" Danny kept his voice low as he ranted to keep from further aggravating what must be a killer headache on Steve's part, and also to keep from adding to the throbbing in his own head.

The two sat in silence for a few moments as Steve failed to acknowledge Danny's statement out-loud; he knew the dangers of a concussion, but he was more prepared to be the one taking the punches than to listen to his partner be on the receiving end. As much as he hated that Danny had to sit there and hear and even feel what was happening behind him, it was his partner that had the daughter to go home to, and despite the guilt that he knew his partner must be feeling, getting Danny home to Grace was at the top of Steve's priority list.

After a few moments of silence, Steve asked, "About the repair bill for the Camaro?" He brought up the subject of their earlier argument. "Do I get out of paying for it or what?"

"Only if you find a way to miraculously get us out of this situation."

"The only thing we would need to do to get free is for one of us to get one hand out of the cuffs; the only other thing keeping us in these chairs is the ties and there's nothing stopping us from simply sliding them off the legs," Steve pointed out the major floor in Brennan's plan at keeping them retrained. The criminal had clearly been more concerned with preventing either man from kicking out, believing that the way in which they were cuffed and how the chairs were firmly pressed against the pillar would prevent them from being able to move, let alone lift the chair to slide the ties off. "Besides, I think Brennan may have missed the switchblade in my boot," Steve added, sure that he could still feel it in its hiding place.

"And how exactly do you plan on getting out of said cuffs, Houdini?" Danny in turn pointed out the floors in Steve's plan. "Because us, the good guys, specifically designed these things to keep the bad guys securely locked up, and while I'm sure that you consider yourself to be MacGyver and are quite capable of picking them with some sort of pin, I happen to be all out of hair pins today, so unless you happen to have some hidden somewhere in your military issue hair cut, I'd say we're out of luck."

"I knew you usually use something to keep your hair looking like that," Steve managed a small grin. "Besides, what happened to the 'Jersey Slip', Danno?"

"Very funny, Steven," Danny replied in a humourless tone.

"There's more than one way to get out of a pair of handcuffs, Danny," Steve continued.

"And what's that?"

"You're not going to like it."

Danny tipped his head in acknowledgment, "Well it's not unexpected when it comes to your crazy plans," he conceded. "What are you thinking?"

"I need more room so I can slip my left hand out of the cuff," Steve paused for a moment, knowing that Danny wasn't going to like the next part. "I need you to dislocate my thumb."

"What? Absolutely not!" Danny felt sick at his friend's request.

"Danny," Steve frowned slightly at his reaction, even if it wasn't completely unexpected. "Without a pick to unlock it, it's the only option to get the cuff off and I can't do it without my other hand," he reasoned as he pulled slightly on his right cuff to emphasize his point.

"Then I'll do it, you dislocate _my_ thumb," Danny insisted; there was no way he was going to add to the pain his partner was in. "You chose to take Brennan's beating, now I'm choosing to do this to get us outta here."

"It's better to have only one liability rather than two," Steve argued. "And this won't be the first time I've had a dislocated thumb; it will make it easier to dislocate again."

Danny didn't even want to ask how he had dislocated his thumb for the first time. Instead he frowned and grated his jaw, knowing that his partner had a point; at the moment his own injuries weren't as much of a liability as Steve's considering the beating he had taken and it would be stupid for him to change that by injuring himself further. He also knew that when it came to pain, the former SEAL certainly had more experience handling it, hell, Danny had watched the man climb a cliff with a shattered forearm in the past. Hating himself for what he was about to do, Danny agreed, "Fine. How do I do this?"

Steve breathed a sigh of relief as his partner agreed with him. "Okay, first I need to know if that light is coming from a window in front of you." Steve had heard the unmistakeable sound of the door to the basement locking and knew their chances of getting out that way were slim.

Danny had noticed the light coming into the room but had been too distracted by what had been going on behind him to even consider where its source was located. Glancing at the wall to his left he spied what he was looking for. "Yeah, it is," he nodded unnecessarily, "it's only about a foot and a half high and four across though."

"That will do," Steve was satisfied that they could both squeeze through the gap. "What I need you to do is to put as much pressure at the base of my thumb at the joint to force it out of the socket; I've done it before so it shouldn't be too hard for you to dislocate it again," he repeated his early statement.

Danny found Steve's left hand with his right and did as he instructed and found the joint on Steve's hand where he needed to push, fighting the slight nausea he experienced when he thought about what he was about to do. "Are you ready?" He asked his partner, though he knew he also needed to psych himself up for this as much as Steve did, more even.

"Do it." Steve took several deep breaths, knowing exactly what to expect when the ligaments in his thumb tore and the bone slipped out of its socket; while it was painful at first it only took a few moments for the sharp pain to return to a throb that dulled as time passed.

"Okay," Danny screwed his eyes in concentration as he started exerting force on Steve's thumb, after a few seconds of trepidation he pushed as hard as possible, knowing that the faster he made this the less pain his partner would experience. After just a few moments, Danny heard the sickening popping sound that accompanied Steve's thumb dislocating.

Steve hissed as the sharp pain shot through the right side of his hand, originating from his thumb and took in a deep breath. As expected however, the pain faded after just a few moments and he opened his eyes.

"You okay?" Danny craned his neck in Steve's direction as he asked.

"Yeah, you did good," Steve commended as he tested how much room he had to move in the handcuff, smiling slightly as he now had a fair amount of space to manoeuvre his hand. "Okay, I need you to pull the cuff down over my wrist."

Danny nodded again and sought out Steve's hand with his right hand again, looking forward to when this part of the escape plan would be over. Finding the metal cuff around Steve's wrist he started to push it downwards, finding that there was indeed some give in them now that Steve's thumb was no longer in the way, but the going was still slower than he would have liked.

Steve winced as the metal rubbed against already raw skin and he kept a close eye on the door leading into the basement, praying that Brennan wouldn't decide to check on them anytime soon.

"Almost there," Steve breathed as he felt the cuff slide closer to his knuckles, its movement aided somewhat by the blood that was now starting to seep from his wrist.

Danny frowned in concentration as he focused on getting the cuff the last few inches and breathed a sigh of relief when it suddenly fell free from Steve's wrist as it passed the obstacle of his knuckles.

As soon as his hand was free, Steve braced his thumb against the side of the chair he was seated on and by applying pressure he efficiently popped his thumb back in place, breathing easier once it was back in its usual position.

Danny brought his arm in front of him to relieve the strain placed on his shoulder at having his arm pulled behind him; the awkward position had done nothing to help the painful throbbing he'd been experiencing since waking up after the crash. His left hand which was still handcuffed to Steve jerked slightly as he heard the sound of Steve's chair moving slightly across the floor as his partner gave himself room to tip the chair back to free his feet. Following his lead, Danny jerked his body forward and to his left and succeeded in moving his chair away from the pillar. Tipping himself back to support himself against the pillar, Danny used his one free hand to start sliding off the plastic tie securing his right foot to the leg of the chair.

Steve ignored the throbbing in both his thumb and his left ankle as he got his foot free from its bindings. "You okay back there, Danny?" Steve checked to make sure his partner was having success in getting himself free, ready to use the small knife in his boot if necessary.

"Yeah," Danny replied as he stretched his leg out gingerly, wincing as his ACL complained at the movement and pins and needles assaulted his cramped muscles.

Once Steve was successful in freeing his right foot he took a few moments to properly take stock of his injuries while Danny finished removing himself from his final restraint. Bringing his left hand up to his head, Steve felt the dried blood on that side of his head and winced as his fingers brushed over the source of both the blood and the pain. The blows to his face had only added to the throbbing in his head and had resulted in a split lip and what felt like the beginning of a black eye if the tightness of the skin surrounding his left eye and somewhat diminished vision was any indication. His ribs which had managed to escape the initial crash with only a mild ache were now also harder to ignore as they throbbed painfully with every deep breath.

Steve slowly raised himself from the chair, mindful not to make too many sharp movements in order to keep from further aggravating his headache and nausea, and behind him he heard Danny doing the same. Limping as his left ankle protested at having weight placed on it, Steve rounded the pillar as Danny got to his feet and he got his first proper look at his partner since they'd woken up in the basement. Danny also displayed a fair amount of blood from a head wound on the right side of his head, he also sported several small cuts and bruises to his face from the crash. Steve noticed that he seemed to wince when he moved his arm and he remembered his partner's complaint about his sore shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Steve couldn't help but ask as he looked in concern at his partner.

"No I'm not," Danny's annoyance at Steve's pointless question was diminished as he took in the former SEAL's injuries, his eyes lingering on the split lip, cheek and black eye that the guilt eating at his gut told him hadn't come from the crash. "But I'll live," he added, not bothering to ask Steve the same question, knowing that he would only brush off his concern. "I don't suppose you have any idea on how to get these off?" Danny lifted his left hand taking Steve's right hand with it as he dangled the second pair of cuffs. "And I am _not_ dislocating another one of your thumbs."

"No," Steve replied as he glanced around the room, giving one last sweep in search of anything small and sharp that could be used to pick the lock on the cuffs but Brennan seemed to have done a fine job of clearing it out completely. "We need to get out of here before Brennan comes back," he stated as he looked over to the window Danny had mentioned. "Grab that chair," he ordered. The window was located about five and a half feet above the floor and Steve knew that the five-five detective would need some help reaching it and he wasn't too keen on pulling himself up with throbbing ribs.

Danny did as his partner instructed and pushed the chair side-on against the wall, noticing Steve's limp as he followed him over to stand by the chair. "What's wrong with your leg?"

"I injured my ankle in the crash, but it's fine for now; no worse off than your knee," Steve added as his partner's frown increased and Danny dropped the subject as they both turned their attention to opening the window. The window was level with the ground outside and there was a latch on the bottom which appeared as though Brennan had locked from the outside.

Danny cursed. "We're gonna have to risk breaking the window to get out."

"No we won't," Steve replied calmly as he lifted his right foot onto the chair, wincing as more weight was placed on his injured ankle. Fishing into his boot he produced the switchblade from its hiding space and managed to slip the blade under the window frame to where the latch was located. With little effort, he jiggled the knife so that the latch fell open.

"I knew it; you think you're MacGyver," Danny commented as he watched Steve with the knife.

"That was a pocket-knife, this is a switchblade," Steve corrected as he stashed the knife into the pocket of his cargos.

"Well whatever, it's the same principle."

Once the latch was open, Steve motioned for Danny to go first, "Keep your left hand inside as much as possible, I'll follow you out."

Danny nodded and stepped onto the chair, pushing the window open with his right hand. He angled his body to slip through the small opening in a diagonal position, keeping his left arm extended into the basement. His shoulder and chest protested as he pulled himself up but he ignored them as best he could as he slid out and onto the soft grass outside the building and felt the soft sprinkle of light rain.

Steve watched his partner successfully escape through the window, with his right hand held up as the cuff attached to Danny's wrist pulled it forward. When Danny's legs were almost out, Steve stood on the chair and placed his hands on the window sill and when Danny was clear he too pulled himself up and began to slide through the opening. By the time his legs had cleared the window, Steve's head was spinning dangerously as it throbbed painfully to the beat of his heart.

Danny noticed the former SEAL's momentary pause upon exiting the basement as he controlled his breaths which were coming out in fast pants. Turning back and placing a hand on Steve's shoulder he asked, "Steve? You okay?"

Steve allowed a few seconds to take in a deep breath before giving a slight nod to Danny, "Yeah, we have to keep moving."

The two men looked around at their new surroundings as Steve got to his feet. The small house they had been in was located in a clearing somewhere in the rainforest and all they could see was green. To their right was a dirt driveway which disappeared into the green surroundings as it went around a bend. Steve and Danny shared a look and silently agreed that the driveway was the best option at getting them back to civilisation. Before the partners could begin to move in the direction of the driveway, movement in the foliage to its right caught their attention. Grabbing Danny's left arm, Steve pulled them both back against the wall of the house as Brennan could be seen moving through the greenery.

Steve and Danny watched him closely as he moved something around in the bushes by the dirt driveway, fortunately too preoccupied to look their way. Steve slowly started moving them both backwards to the back of the one-story house, aiming for the cover of the dense foliage located there. "We're going to have to take the long way round; we can't risk getting too close and having Brennan hearing us."

"Of course," Danny nodded, "because this can never just be an easy escape with you around."

Steve ignored the comment and gave Brennan one last glance as he appeared to be finishing up with whatever he was doing in the bushes. "We gotta move _now_," he ordered and he pulled Danny with him into the foliage. "It's not going to take him long to realise we're missing."

"And what're we gonna do exactly when he does realise, huh? Neither of us is exactly in any condition to be running a marathon and it's not going to take a skilled tracker to follow our trail," Danny referred to their pace which was hindered by both men's injuries and the easily definable trail caused by their uncoordinated movement.

"That driveway has to lead somewhere, and if we can make it to a road before Brennan can catch up to us we should be able to get some help," Steve chose to stay optimistic as he negotiated his way through the foliage that was pulling at his feet. He was panting heavily already even though they had only travelled a short distance into the forest and he knew he had his ribs to blame for it as the pain in his chest chorused loudly with the rest of his injuries and he tucked his left arm close against his body as his right one was constantly tugged at by the movement of his partner's swinging arm.

"Right, because Hawaii's backwater roads are always teeming with life," Danny took his anger at the situation out on Steve's plan. He hissed in pain as a root caused him to stumble and aggravated his already painful ACL.

Steve heard the rant for what it was and directed the conversation in another direction. "I hope you realise that this means that I don't have to pay for the damage to the Camaro," he panted.

Danny snorted slightly, "Yeah, yeah; I'll just have to charge the bill to Brennan."

Steve smiled but didn't answer as both men put all their efforts into continuing their movement forward and hopefully in the direction of help.

oOo

Brennan casually threw an armful of leaves and small branches over the shallow and hastily dug graves of the three men responsible for carjacking the two members of Five-0. The three young men were junkies he often made deliveries to in his role as a mule for the local drug ring and it had been easy to convince them to do a job for him as a way to pay off some of the debt they owed him and the cartel.

Unfortunately for them, he had never planned on honouring his end of the deal and their fate had been sealed when the idiots had dumped the car they had used to ram the cops' car with not far from the scene due to engine damage. Brennan knew that their actions would mean it wouldn't be hard for the rest of the men's team to determine what had happened to their team mates and the three junkies had paid for their mistake. Though Brennan knew he should really be blaming himself for hiring the unstable amateurs, but with only a few hours to organise the kidnapping he had had no other option.

Brennan turned to make his way back into his long-dead grandparents' home; the small, single story, and most importantly, solitary house had been abandoned for years and he had often used it as a place to hide drug stashes for the cartel. It had also provided him with the perfect location to avenge his brother without the risk of any prying eyes.

Once inside, Brennan made his way straight to the door leading to the basement, impatient to finish what he had started. He turned the door handle and pushed open the door walking onto the small wooden landing and shut the door behind him. The light emanating from the window at the back of the room made it easy for him to see that the two wooden chairs where the cops had sat were now empty. Crying out in rage, Brennan drew the stolen gun from his waistband and ran down the remaining stairs and straight to the window he knew they had to have made their escape from. Pushing the window open Brennan peered out with the gun raised, but the only sign of the two men that could be found was two small smears of blood on the window frame.

Growling in frustration, he ran from the room. Brennan reached the window of the basement in no time and easily saw the trail the two injured men had made through the un-mowed grass leading towards the thick foliage at the back of the house. Brennan checked the clip on his stolen weapon and felt his own revolver hidden in his deep pants' pocket, confirming its presence, then strode into the forest, easily following the trail.

oOo

_A/N: Well, what did you think? I'd love to know your thoughts! :)_

_A/N 2: This is just an FYI so feel free to ignore this if you want :) Just wanted to say that I'll be posting the first chapter of another story in the next few days so that it's up before the third season starts. This is not a shameless self promotion, I swear! I just wanted to let you know it won't affect me posting this story._

_Oh and one more thing... Less than a week until Season Three! Whooo! *Does happy dance* :)_

_Mahalo for reading!_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews and response so far! I hope you enjoy this chapter :) Time to catch up with Chin and Kono..._

oOo

Chin dismounted his motorbike the moment it came to a stop beside the blue and whites and other emergency vehicles that were already blocking off the secluded stretch of road along the Pali. Duke had been awaiting his arrival and he approached his former colleague as Chin quickly took in the scene before him.

"Chin," he called to get the younger man's attention.

"Duke," Chin acknowledged as they met beside his bike. "What's happening here?"

"This morning at approximately eight o'clock my partner and I were called out to a traffic incident, an ambulance had already been called but when we arrived the paramedics informed us that there was no one inside the vehicle." Duke led them to the side of the road where they had a good view of the totalled Camaro where it sat below them in the ditch. "When we inspected the vehicle ourselves I recognised the silver Camaro and couldn't help but think of Detective Williams."

"I can't imagine there would be a huge number of them on the island," Chin swept his eyes across his teammate's car as he spoke, taking in the crushed driver's side and roof.

"That was my thought as well," Duke nodded. "That's why I called to confirm it with you. We've since searched the surrounding area but we haven't found any sign of the passengers yet. We went with the assumption that Commander McGarrett was also in the car at the time?"

"Yeah, that's right," Chin confirmed as he noticed Kono's red Cruze join the growing number of vehicles at the scene.

"My partner and two other officers are still searching for any sign of the passengers or the other vehicle further north along the road, another two are searching to the south," Duke continued. "The crash scene unit arrived approximately fifteen minutes ago and are starting to determine exactly what happened. When was the last time you saw Williams and McGarrett?"

"Yesterday afternoon when we wrapped up the Brennan case; they were on their way to see the victim's family before they were going to head back to Steve's place. I got a call from Danny's ex-wife just before eight-thirty this morning to say that he hadn't arrived to pick up Grace and neither he nor McGarrett were answering their cells. I was at Steve's house this morning when you called and there was no sign that anyone had been home at all the previous evening."

Duke nodded at the explanation as Kono jogged up to where they were standing.

"Any sign of them yet?" She asked as she surveyed the damaged car in front of her, her eyebrows growing tighter in concern at the thought that her teammates had been in the vehicle at the time.

"Not yet," Chin replied as he turned to her.

"The crash unit have been focusing on skid marks found where they believe to be the point of impact," Duke turned and indicated towards the road behind them where the techs from the crash unit were studying a set of clearly defined tire marks.

The three officers walked closer towards the skid marks and Chin crouched down next to a section of marks where the tread was clearly visible. "It shouldn't be hard to determine the make of these tire treads."

Kono nodded her agreement. "That's the first good news I've heard all morning."

"_Hey, Duke, you still there?_" The radio clipped to the front of Duke's uniform crackled to life.

"Yeah, Tom, go ahead. I've got Kelly and Kalakaua with me as well," he addressed his partner.

"_We've found the second vehicle, it's a mile and a half north from of the crash site; a dark SUV with some damage to the front, my guess is they ditched it because of some sort of engine damage from the crash_."

Chin and Kono's heads snapped towards the radio at the news, wasting no time in heading back to Kono's car to investigate the latest break.

"Great work, Chin and Kono will meet you there," Duke replied as he turned and called out to the two Five-0 members as they pulled open the car doors. "I'll stay here and coordinate the scene."

Chin nodded briefly as he swung himself in the passenger side and pulled the door shut as Kono started up the engine. It wasn't long before the Cruze reached their destination and Kono pulled up just short of where Sergeant Thomas Moore was awaiting their arrival. The SUV was only barely visible from the road as it was sitting towards the tree line in the ditch running alongside the road, much the same as the Camaro, though in this case it appeared as though it had been done intentionally in order to hide the vehicle somewhat.

Duke's partner, Sergeant Moore, waited for them to join him where he stood beside another set of tread marks on the road where the SUV could be seen clearly sitting in the ditch. Two other HPD officers were currently cordoning off the area and assessing the scene.

"Chin," Tom nodded and smiled warmly as they approached him. The HPD sergeant was of similar age to his partner, Lukela, though wasn't of Hawaiian descent and sported salt and pepper hair that displayed his older age. Chin had worked with him and Lukela in the past during his career with HPD.

"Tom, what exactly have you got here?" Chin forewent pleasantries this time as he and Kono surveyed the new scene before them.

"We're looking at a Jeep Grand Cherokee, from the outside the damage to the car doesn't look too bad, but the story's a little different when you look under the hood; there's no way they would have got very far with it in that condition," Tom didn't go into the unnecessary details of the damage to the engine. "These tire tracks here are most likely from a third vehicle they used to get away in when the engine died on the SUV."

Chin and Kono nodded as they followed his gesture to inspect the tire marks.

"Have you found anything inside the car yet that's of any use?" Kono asked as she turned her attention back to the SUV.

"Not yet, we thought you two might want the honour," he pulled out two extra pair of gloves from one of his pockets and passed them over to the cousins.

"Thanks, Tom," Chin nodded. "We appreciate it."

"Though we did find a sticker on the back bumper that indicates it's a rental," Tom informed them.

Chin and Kono couldn't hide their satisfaction at the news. "Good," Chin nodded. "Hopefully it'll make finding the guys who did this easier."

The cousins easily climbed down into the small ditch as they pulled on the rubber gloves with Tom following them. Kono crouched down and pulled out her smart phone once they had reached the vehicle and took a picture of the rental sticker attached to the back of the car.

"The rental belongs to Enterprise Rent-A-Car," she called out to Chin who had pulled open the passenger side door to inspect the glove compartment. "I can get in contact with them and find out who rented the car once we're done here."

"I've got something here," Chin re-emerged from the front seat of the car with something in his gloved hand. Kono stood up and walked towards him as she looked to see what he was holding. "It's a cell phone; looks like a cheap pre-paid cell but it's intact so we should be able to get a call history off it."

"Great work, Cuz."

"Mmm," Chin acknowledged, "It doesn't look like our guys are exactly criminal masterminds though; a rental car, leaving behind a phone..."

Kono nodded, "Well maybe they were just the hired guns then."

"It's possible," Chin conceded.

The two looked up as Tom called from the back of the vehicle where he had the back door open. "I've got some blood over here!"

Chin and Kono quickly jogged to his side to examine his findings for themselves. The back seats of the car had been removed to provide a larger space in the back. It was only a small amount of blood and was almost impossible to see smeared across the carpet that lined the interior, another small trace of it could be seen on the metal at the opening of the door.

Chin turned to Tom. "We need to get a crime scene unit to go over the car thoroughly, in the meantime Kono and I are going to head back to Five-0 headquarters and get started on the evidence we already have," he indicated to the phone he was still grasping.

Tom nodded, "CSU's already on the way out here; I'll have them send over everything once they're done. If you need anything make sure you give either Duke or myself a call." He held out his hand for Chin to shake before repeating the gesture to Kono.

The cousin's echoed their thanks to him before climbing back up to the road and Kono's car.

"Drop me back to my bike so I can go straight back to headquarters while you check out the rental place," Chin instructed as they climbed back into the car.

"You got it," Kono replied as she turned the car around and drove back to the first crime scene in a manner that would have made her boss proud.

oOo

Steve blinked several times in an attempt to clear his vision, but the pounding in his head seemed to be intensified by the heat of the day and the moisture that hung in the air. The blurred foliage that he and his partner were navigating through had been starting to spin for the last twenty minutes or so and the motion was slowly worsening the nausea rolling through his gut.

He heard another muffled curse beside him and his right arm jerked as Danny caught his foot in the undergrowth for the umpteenth time; his loafers proving to be far from suitable for their current situation. Danny regained his balance quickly, bending down to rub his throbbing knee before pushing himself forward to keep up with the pace set by his partner.

"You do realise that this would be a lot easier if we were walking _on_ the driveway and not beside it don't you?" Danny panted.

"Too dangerous," Steve's reply sounded as breathless as Danny's voice had been. "It'll make it easy for Brennan to see us."

The pair had managed to double back around towards the driveway after their hurried escape into the rainforest and had been following it in the shelter of the dense foliage in the hope that it would soon lead them to a road. That had been more than half an hour ago now, and Danny was starting to doubt they would ever reach some form of civilisation any time soon.

"He's gonna be able to follow our less than subtle trail anyway and we'll be able to go a lot faster without this jungle trying to trip me up every ten seconds."

Steve tried to tune out his partner's argument, too busy remembering the reason he had been stubbornly keeping his mouth shut for the last half hour as he could taste bile rising in the back of his throat. When the pounding in his head made his surroundings spin violently again his stomach finally submitted to the incessant nausea.

Danny was caught off guard when Steve suddenly stopped and for a moment he thought he had won the argument, until his partner reached for the closest tree on his left for support before doubling over and vomiting into the foliage.

"Whoa, whoa!" Danny was caught off guard by the sudden episode. He moved forward slightly and placed his free hand on the former-SEAL's shoulder as he continued to cough and dry-heave into the bushes. Danny continued to watch his partner in concern until the dry-heaving subsided and Steve pushed himself back up to lean slightly against the tree, his left arm wrapped protectively around his ribs. Danny gave Steve a few more moments to get his breathing back under control before asking, "Hey, you okay? And don't even try telling me you're fine, because those puke splattered bushes clearly say otherwise."

"Concussion," Steve admitted after several more breaths of air, figuring it would be useless to lie to Danny when the detective had probably already realised the cause behind the sudden onset of vomiting. "But I can deal with it, we have to keep moving; Brennan will have well and truly realised we're missing by now." As he stood up straight to continue walking his head gave another dangerous spin and he felt Danny's hand tighten on his shoulder.

"Take it easy huh, Rambo. My own head feels like it's about to explode and it didn't take half the beating yours did," his words were laced with guilt that Steve easily picked up on.

"I'm fine," he responded automatically, earning himself another frown from Danny. He ignored the look and started moving forward again, pulling Danny with him. "We need to pick up the pace; Brennan won't take long to catch up to us."

Danny held back a sigh and doubled his efforts to move faster; Steve was right, Brennan couldn't be far behind them and their various injuries were slowing them down considerably. The pain in his ACL had only doubled after their stumbling trek through the forest and he could see that Steve's own injured leg was hampering his pace considerably as his limp became more pronounced despite the former-SEAL's attempts to hide it.

The light rain that had been continuously falling since their escape was a welcome relief to Danny as it cooled his sweat covered back, though he looked up in concern when the sound of rain grew louder in the trees surrounding them. Without slowing their pace, Steve also looked up as the heavens opened up and the light drizzle turned into a heavy downpour.

Danny groaned in frustration as the 'cool relief' he'd been thankful for earlier turned their day into just that much more of a nightmare. "Typical. The one day it's not blasting sunshine is the day we decide to go for a hike in the jungle," he grumbled.

Steve ignored the remark, focusing all his efforts on moving his feet forward and not face planting into the ground. The nausea had subsided somewhat for now but his head was still throbbing painfully and it felt as though someone had clogged it full of cotton-wool, making thinking clearly somewhat difficult. It was becoming increasingly hard to place weight on his left ankle as it sent a red-hot knife of pain up his leg every time he took a step and his breaths were short and fast as he tried not to aggravate the pain in his ribs that had only worsened after throwing up.

He spared another glance at his partner to see how he was faring and the exhaustion on his face was obvious. Danny's forehead was covered in sweat which was becoming difficult to discern from the rivulets of rain water that was running down from his very wet and forlorn looking mass of hair. The rain was also washing away some of the dried blood that had been caked on his partner's temple and a red-tinged stream flowed from it and down onto his dress shirt. Danny seemed to be concentrating as hard as he was to prevent himself from stumbling, both their balance thrown off slightly by the handcuffs joining their wrists together and forcing them to hold their arms out awkwardly.

The rain had quietened the birds' calls through the rainforest as they sought shelter from the deluge and the only sound that could be heard other than their own footsteps was the heavy droplets of water as they hit the leaves and undergrowth. Without warning, a large flock of birds fled with loud cries from their shelter behind where the two men were trekking. Both Steve and Danny spun around at the commotion and Danny seemed to relax when he realised that the noise had only come from a flock of birds. With a glance at Steve's concerned features, however, the unease at hearing the birds returned and before he could ask his partner what was wrong Steve was spinning them back around and pulling them forward again.

"Run!" He hissed, and Danny realised the significance of the fleeing birds; something – or in this case, _someone_ – had startled them and Danny sped up at the realisation that Brennan had caught up to them.

Branches and vines whipped at their faces as Steve and Danny ran forward, each of them relying on pure adrenalin to make their legs move faster and for the pain that had been hindering their progress thus far to slip slightly into the background.

Steve glanced to their right and cursed inwardly as he realised that they were no longer in sight of the only road that could have led them in the right direction but he quickly forgot it as he focused on running through the difficult terrain. Brennan couldn't have been more than fifty meters behind them and even with the sound of the falling rain Steve knew that he and Danny were making a lot of noise and weren't travelling as fast as he would have liked.

As their feet pounded through the mud and leaves littering the forest floor, another sound disrupted the rainforest as gunshots rang out loudly from behind them.

TBC

oOo


	6. Chapter 6

oOo

Danny flinched as the sound of bullets erupted from behind them and he pushed himself to go faster, knowing that at this distance Brennan was more than likely merely firing blindly in the direction he knew they were, but he cried out in surprise when his left hand was pulled violently downwards and he hit the ground hard. For a brief second he waited for the blinding pain that came with being shot but when it didn't come he looked down at himself in confusion before he registered Steve's gasp of pain and he turned his full attention to his partner.

Steve was lying on his stomach in the muddy foliage beside him with his left arm buried beneath his body, his face screwed up in pain as he breathed between gritted teeth.

"Steve?" Danny called in concern, his eyes travelling over the former-SEAL's body and his heart almost stopped when he saw the dark red stain that had appeared on his partner's right side just above his hip. "Shit!" He swore and he quickly moved to apply pressure with his right hand.

Steve cried out as he felt his partner push down on the wound in his side and his vision blacked out for a second from the pain and as all his previous injuries made their presence known with a vengeance. When the world around him refocused he could hear Danny's urgent voice speaking to him but it took another moment to focus beyond the fire emanating from his side to hear what he was saying.

"Steve? Steve! Can you hear me? C'mon, babe, let me know you're still with me!" He jerked his cuffed hand for good measure to get Steve's attention.

"I'm still with you," Steve gasped out, clutching the exit wound on his front with his left hand. "We have to keep moving; Brennan..." There was no need for him to finish his sentence as Danny got the message.

"I know, I know," Danny nodded as he looked at the wound again in concern, it was still oozing blood between his fingers but fortunately it wasn't enough to indicate that the bullet had hit an artery. In fact, another inch to the right and it probably would have missed Steve completely, or would have merely grazed his partner's side.

Steve grunted as he started to pull himself up and Danny quickly came to his aid. "Here let me help; this isn't going to be comfortable," he warned as he grabbed a hold of Steve's belt with his still cuffed left hand and placed his right hand under his partner's left arm to pull him to his feet.

Steve swayed slightly once he was upright and Danny could see the pain hidden in his eyes, but he also saw a cold determination as he started moving forward again. They had only made it a few steps when another loud gunshot rang out from right behind them and a bullet embedded into a tree just to the right of Danny's head and a voice called out from behind them.

"Don't move! Turn around slowly!"

oOo

The main office space in Five-0 headquarters felt eerily quiet to Chin, the sound of the heavy downpour outside echoing around the empty space as he attempted to crack the lock that had been placed on the SIM card of the prepaid cell phone. Fortunately it wasn't overly complicated and within just over five minutes of trying he was able to pull up the contents of the phone.

The phone hadn't been activated for long and there were only a few calls that had been made to just two different numbers. One looked as though it belonged to a local business and the other that had been called numerous times was easily recognisable as a local cell phone number. Chin selected the cell phone number and began running a search as to who it belonged to. As he was waiting for the result to appear on screen his own cell phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID before answering, "Kono, what were you able to find from the car rental place?"

"_How about a name?"_ Kono asked, pleased with her success at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. _"Stuart Craft; he rented out the Cherokee online and when they wouldn't accept a cash payment he used his American Express card."_

"Great work, Cuz," Chin commended as he entered the new name into the computer to run a background search. In the background, he could hear the engine of Kono's car start up as she activated the phone through the car's Bluetooth.

"_The Jeep was supposed to be returned at noon today, so needless to say the company was less than thrilled when I told them what had happened,"_ Kono added as she started the short drive from the rental car place on Ala Moana Boulevard back to headquarters.

It only took a few moments for Stuart Craft's rap sheet to appear on the smart table before Chin and he quickly relayed his findings over the phone to Kono. "Okay, looks like Stuart Clarke has been arrested multiple times for possession and breaking and entering; he's currently out on parole but according to his P.O he missed his scheduled check-in today."

"_Definitely sounds like our guy."_

"Yeah, and paying with an American Express card certainly fits into our bill of Craft merely being the hired muscle; his rap sheet also doesn't scream criminal mastermind. I'll send this over to HPD's crime lab in case they find his prints in the car." As he finished sending the rap sheet over, the result of the phone number he had entered appeared on the screen. "I just got the results back on the number Craft called from the disposable cell phone," he explained to Kono as he opened the new file. Chin's expression grew grim as he read over the name who was registered with the cell number. "Kono, I think I know who may be behind this; are you almost back at headquarters?"

"_I'm just pulling in now, why? Who do you think is behind this?"_

"It can wait until you're here and I can show you what I've found," Chin decided it was best to have all the information gathered together before informing his cousin of his find.

"_Alright, I'll be there soon."_

It wasn't long until Kono pushed through the glass doors leading into headquarters and jogged over to the centre of the room where Chin was awaiting her by the computer. In the few short minutes it had taken Kono to get from her car to the office, Chin had pulled up everything from their last case onto the computer screens, along with some of the new information he had already gathered.

"What've you got, Cuz?" She came to stop beside the computer and frowned as she recognised the files from their last case. "What's this got to do with anything?"

"Everything; I managed to get a name for the cell number that was called multiple times from the disposable phone we found in the SUV, several incoming calls were also made from it," Chin explained as he pulled up Matthew Brennan's rap sheet. "Matthew Brennan; sound familiar?"

"Yeah, it does," Kono studied the face on the screen closely; while the name rang a bell she didn't recognise the face in front of her. "I take it he's somehow related to Monica and Peter Brennan from our last case?"

Chin nodded, "He's Peter Brennan's older brother and he has a rap sheet a mile long _and_ has known connections to the drug ring Ortega was running as what HPD suspect as a distributer."

Kono took in a deep breath and nodded slowly as she realised the implications of their findings. "And you think this guy found out about what happened to his brother and is out for revenge?"

"I'd say it's a good bet; everything about the hit and run so far is screaming amateur and with not much time to organise something more professional Brennan would have had to make do with what he had."

"Right, and Craft is a known user so it's possible he knew of him when he was making runs for the drug ring," Kono continued the train of thought. "So how do we find this guy?"

"Well he has a small place near Pearl City but that's the last place he's gonna go to; it's far too public. At the moment I'm trying to find any other properties listed under his name."

"What about any properties under Peter Brennan's name?"

"That's definitely an option," Chin nodded. "I'll keep focused on Matthew while you look into Peter's records."

Kono moved to the opposite side of the smart table to open a new search into Peter Brennan's records, also bringing up everything they had previously researched on him from their earlier investigation. As she started sieving through all the information her mind couldn't help but get side-tracked as her thoughts turned to the other half of Five-0.

"Do you think we're going to find them in time?" It was a question that had been plaguing her since the start of their search and one she was almost afraid to ask.

Chin sighed softly, "Brennan obviously wanted them alive, and I trust that Steve and Danny will do everything in their power to stay that way." He looked intently at his cousin, "The best thing for you to do is stay focused."

"I know," she nodded, feeling slightly better in knowing that her cousin was right in saying that whatever situation McGarrett and Danny would find themselves in they were more than capable of handling themselves, especially considering their boss's training.

Silence fell between them as they both continued to search through the respective Brennan's records for any mention of somewhere he might have felt comfortable to carry out whatever he had been planning. After just over twenty minutes of tedious work of looking through financial records Kono frowned in concentration as she found something of interest.

"Hey, I might have found something," she got Chin's attention, excitement starting to build as she read over the letter she had stumbled across in Peter Brennan's file.

"What is it?" Chin came over to stand beside her as she enlarged the document.

"It's a letter from a Real Estate company expressing interest in a property that supposedly belonged to the Brennan's grandparents, it went to Matthew and Peter Brennan's mother when they passed away ten years ago and it hasn't been used since their mother was admitted to a nursing home with dementia seven years ago. It's an isolated property out at Waikane," she finished, confident in her find.

"That has to be where he would have gone," Chin agreed as he looked over Kono's shoulder to read the address. "I'll call HPD and get them to meet us at the address." The two were already headed out to the parking lot as Chin pulled out his phone and accessed Duke Lukela's number from his contacts.

Duke was quick to reply to Chin's call._ "Chin, I'm glad you called; the crime lab just matched the prints in the SUV to the suspect's file you sent over_."

"We have an address for where we believe Steve and Danny are," Chin cut him off, figuring the older man would be more than willing to forgive the interruption. "And we know who's responsible; Matthew Brennan. I need you to organise a unit to meet us at the address; it's isolated so I'll send you the GPS location."

"_Alright, I'll have a unit meet you there,_" Duke answered quickly as Chin jumped into the passenger side of Kono's car and she started the engine.

"You'll be needing that seatbelt," she warned and true to her word reversed out of the parking space at break neck speed before throwing the car into drive and speeding forward onto the road.

Chin gave her a slightly amused look as he reached to turn the Cruze's lights on, "Remind me again who taught you to drive, because I'm sure I never encouraged any of this when you were first learning with me."

Kono smiled as she kept focused on the road, "Don't get me wrong, Cuz, you were a great teacher, but I had McGarrett take me out for a couple of defensive driving lessons." She grinned.

"That explains a lot, though in this case I'm sure that even Danny will appreciate the reckless driving; just get us there as fast as possible."

Kono didn't need any more encouragement and she squeezed the accelerator harder as she swerved through the traffic, hoping that she and Chin would arrive in time to help their friends.

TBC

oOo

_A/N: I hope you liked this chapter, it turned out a bit more bias towards Steve whump than I had intended, but I went with where the muse took me. Thanks for reading!_


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Once again, a BIG thank you for continuing to support and review this story, I really can't thank you all enough!_

oOo

Steve and Danny followed the yelled instructions and slowly began to turn around to face their attacker, Danny barely managing to accomplish the feat as his injured partner began to lean heavily against him and his left arm muscles strained to keep him upright.

Brennan was pointing Steve's SIG Sauer at them, his clothes as saturated as their own as rain ran in rivulets over his muscular build. Brennan gave a humourless laugh that only made him appear slightly crazed to the two partners. "Where exactly were you planning on going huh, cops? There isn't anyone around here for miles!"

"What can I say, we were fed up with your crappy accommodation," Danny retorted, his mind working overtime to try to find a way out of their current circumstance, beside him he was sure his partner was doing the same thing.

Brennan smirked slightly at his words, "Well unfortunately for you, I'm not gonna stop until the man who killed my brother is dead," the gun moved slightly so that it was pointed directly at Steve.

Steve watched the gun's movement, knowing that now was the time to do something but he could feel the blood loss sapping the energy from him and his cuffed right hand limited his movements. There was also the matter of their opponent being several feet away from them and out of reach of the only weapon he and his partner had at their disposal. Deciding that there was only one way to draw Brennan closer, Steve spoke up. "Too bad you wasted all your previous efforts on the wrong person," he was still panting as he spoke.

Danny hadn't been expecting the sudden admission any more than Brennan had been but he knew well enough that Steve had done it for a reason, and he began to understand when he felt his partner move his cuffed hand into his pants' pocket where his switchblade was concealed. Danny slowly readjusted his grip on Steve's belt to allow his partner more room to reach into his pocket.

"What?" Brennan's eyes flicked between the two men.

"I wasn't the one who shot your brother," Steve repeated his earlier sentiment while his hand grasped the knife in his pocket. "Though I did have the distinct pleasure of watching the bastard bleed out," he added to fuel Brennan's anger.

Steve and Danny both saw the rage flash across Brennan's dark eyes and each of them had just a split second to prepare themselves before Brennan launched himself at them with a strangled yell of rage. While Steve had been expecting the move, his injuries meant he wasn't fast enough to avoid the hand holding the SIG from swinging into the left side of his head as Brennan attacked and the force of the blow sent both he and Danny into the ground.

Steve felt the air leave his lungs as he made contact with the ground and he gasped in an attempt to refill them as he pulled the hand grasping the knife from his pocket. Before he could even flick the blade open however, agony ripped along the whole right side of his body as Brennan's boot made contact with his wounded side and he let out a yell of pain as the world around him was filled with white light.

Danny heard Steve's yell of pain and spared a second to glance at him to see that his partner was clearly having difficulty in hanging onto consciousness for the time-being. Bringing his legs up, he kicked out hard against Brennan's shins and brought the criminal down to their level before following it up with a hard right hook that connected with Brennan's jaw. The blow didn't appear to do much damage as Brennan quickly retaliated with a hard back-hand that snapped the already concussed detective's head to the right and had him seeing stars and a second fist ploughed into his bruised torso. Before he could recover completely, Danny felt Brennan's weight on top of him as his airway was blocked by Brennan's tight grip around his throat.

Danny automatically reached up to try and pry Brennan's fingers away as his legs struggled to throw the larger man off of him, but his struggles only resulted in a smile forming on his attacker's lips.

"I'm gonna watch the light go out in your eyes, then I'm gonna finish what I started with your partner; just be thankful you won't have to be around to watch," Brennan snarled.

Steve heard the words and opened his eyes, able to make out what has happening beside him through the haze of pain that was clouding his vision. Still clutching the knife in his hand, Steve gripped Danny's left hand and pushed the switchblade into it. Danny recognised what it was immediately and wasted no time in passing it over to his dominant hand and opening the blade.

Danny gathered all of his remaining strength and thrust the knife upwards into his opponent's body until he felt the hilt rest against Brennan's chest. The vice around his neck loosened when the knife found its mark and Danny immediately drew in a deep breath, gasping as he did so.

"Give my regards to your brother," he coughed out as he gave the knife another solid push upwards for good measure.

Brennan gasped and Danny could feel him growing heavier on top of him and he brought his feet up to push against the criminal's body. With a solid push with his feet and the hand still clutching the knife in Brennan's chest, Danny dislodged the taller man off him to land to his right and he pulled the switchblade out as Brennan fell to the ground. Blood now rushed freely from the wound in his chest, turning his already soaked white shirt bright red.

Danny watched for several moments longer and took in several deep gulps of air as Brennan struggled to draw in breath and blood bubbled from his mouth. In under a minute the criminal stopped his struggle to breathe and Danny sighed in relief as Brennan's body stilled, the ground surrounding him stained red with blood. Once he was sure the threat had been neutralized, he turned back to his partner.

Danny's voice was harsh when he called out, "Steve?" His partner was still clutching his side with his left hand and his breath was coming in uneven pants.

"I'm good," Steve panted out as Danny crouched beside him.

"Yeah and I'm Brad Pitt," Danny put as much sarcasm into his reply as possible.

"He dead?" Steve opened his eyes to turn his head towards Brennan's unmoving form.

"Yeah he is, and so are you if we don't stop that bleeding soon."

"I've had worse."

"I'm sure you have," Danny replied dismissively as he pulled his soaked dress shirt open at the buttons then proceeded to wipe Brennan's blood off the blade of the knife onto his pants legs. Using the switchblade, he cut the sleeve of his left arm and pulled the garment off his body. Using the switchblade to cut the shirt in two pieces he then wrung as much water out of them as possible, attempting to shield it from more rain with his body.

Steve watched his partner's efforts and frowned in concern when he saw the bruising that marred his friend's chest along the path of where the seatbelt had sat and the bruising also located on his right shoulder. He was distracted from saying anything, however, when Danny placed one of the shirt halves under his body where the entry wound was before pressing the other half onto his abdomen.

"Hold that there," he said as he placed Steve's left hand on it to hold it in place. "I'm gonna check if Brennan's got the key to these cuffs on him."

Danny turned himself back around and moved as close to Brennan as his outstretched left arm would allow and reached into the pocket of his cargo pants. Finding nothing, he pulled the pocket inside-out to be sure before moving onto the pocket on his other pants leg, instantly feeling the revolver hidden there. Pulling it out, he stored it away in his own waist-band and continued to search for the key. With no luck after searching every pocket, Danny turned back to Steve.

"No key," he reported, "though the revolver may come in handy if there are any more yahoos running around with Brennan."

Steve nodded, remembering Brennan mentioning something about people he had hired. "We should head back to the house; even if Brennan had help it's our best shot of getting outta here."

Danny nodded his agreement, "Plus Rachel and Gabby would have called someone when I didn't show up this morning so by now I'm guessing that someone knows we're missing. Which hopefully means Chin and Kono are gonna come to our rescue at any moment. Before we go anywhere I need to try and get that bleeding under control."

Danny quickly reached for his belt buckle and undid it with shaking hands. Steve let his right hand follow the movement of his partner as he watched his efforts, managing a smile as his already shirtless partner removed his belt from around his waist.

"You'll have to take me out to dinner first, Partner."

Danny let out an amused scoff as he moved closer again to slide the belt under his partner's body and wrap it around his midsection. "Sorry, Super-SEAL, but you're not exactly my type."

"What's not to love?" Steve grimaced as Danny tightened the belt to keep the two pieces of material in place.

Once the belt was fastened Danny knelt beside Steve and applied more pressure to both sides of the gunshot wound with his hands, eliciting a grunt from his partner.

"What are you doing, Danny?" Steve frowned at him. "We should try to make our way back to the house."

"I'm going to stop this bleeding first; Brennan's dead, there's no rush and I'd rather not have you bleed out after all the effort I went to in keeping our sorry asses alive. So just sit still like a good SEAL while I get the bleeding under control."

Steve acquiesced silently and let his head fall back against the ground and he shut his eyes for a moment to regain his strength and manage the pain. He knew it wasn't going to be an easy walk back for either himself or Danny and that was even if they could find the right direction to walk in. He could feel his body trembling, the blood loss only adding to the cold the constant rain had brought about and he knew they would both have to find shelter soon.

Danny watched the two balled up shirts get wetter as they absorbed the rain and he wished he had some way of keeping them dry but he knew for now they were all he had. He continued to apply pressure for several more moments, needing the time to regather himself. His vision seemed to be blurring occasionally after Brennan's blow to his head and he was still out of breath after almost being strangled and his throat burned with every swallow. He shivered and he knew it was time for him and Steve to get moving and find shelter, and more importantly help.

"Alright, soldier, it's time to get move out," Danny said and he moved his hands away from the wounds in his friend's side.

"Sailor," Steve corrected with a frown as Danny helped him into a sitting position.

"I guess that's more appropriate anyway; we're gonna be swimming back in all this rain." Danny gripped Steve's belt again and placed a hand under his opposite shoulder. "You ready?"

Steve gave a small, determined nod before he pushed himself up off the ground as Danny pulled them both up. Both men's heads spun dangerously at the change of position and they staggered slightly to the right as Danny's world spun and his head throbbed painfully. The two men were able to catch themselves before they both ended up on the ground again and Steve looked at Danny in concern.

"You okay there, Danny?"

"No I'm not," Danny was panting as he replied. "So let's get us the hell outta here before we both end up in the mud, huh?"

Steve grimaced as they slowly began moving forward through the rough terrain, trying not to lean too heavily against Danny, something he was finding increasingly difficult to do as he felt his strength wavering.

Danny remained focused on the path ahead of them to block out the pain that was currently attacking his body, knowing that keeping a clear head was his and his partner's only chance of getting to safety.

oOo

The rain was still coming down hard as Kono brought her car to a stop on the driveway of Brennan's suspected hideout; the house wasn't in their sight yet as they didn't want to alert Brennan to their arrival. Behind them, four HPD squad cars also came to a stop and over half a dozen officers exited the vehicles.

Chin and Kono stepped out into the rain, ignoring the downpour as it began to soak their clothing; they had ponchos in the trunk of the car but the noisy and cumbersome garments would make stealth and movement difficult. They both turned to face the approaching officers, Duke and Tom amongst them.

"Alright, our suspect's name is Matthew Brennan," Chin raised his voice to be heard clearly over the rain as he held up a printed picture of Brennan's mug shot. "He's currently holding Commander McGarrett and Detective Williams hostage with an unknown number of accomplices; we do know that this man, Stuart Craft, may also be aiding him," he added and held up Craft's mug shot next to Brennan's. The suspect's house is approximately sixty yards in that direction," he pointed up the driveway. "We need a perimeter around the house, four men will search the house with Officer Kalakaua and myself," he indicated to the four closest officers, "while the remaining four hold the perimeter," he looked to Duke as he finished.

Several nods accompanied his words.

"Duke, have paramedics been called?" Chin turned back to Lukela, wanting to be prepared for whatever condition they found their teammates in.

Duke nodded. "They've been given the address and are on stand-by awaiting our request."

"Thank you," Chin replied before turning back to the rest of the group. "Fan out and move in!"

TBC

oOo


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Sorry, sorry, _Sorry_ for the delay in posting this! I have a Mount Everest pile of assignments to get done at the moment and had no time to update. That said, the next chapter will also be a bit late for the same reason. I hope it was worth the wait!_

oOo

Kono ignored the heavy droplets of rain as they began to soak her clothing, the tight-fitting Kevlar vest she was wearing managing to provide a small amount of protection for her back and chest.

Beside her, Chin moved stealthily through the trees, leading with his shot-gun. Any sound they made as they moved through the foliage was easily masked by the sound of the falling rain.

Just as they caught their first glimpse of the house through the trees, their ear-pieces crackled to life.

"_Lt. Kelly,"_ A HPD officer's voice sounded through their ear-pieces, _"we've located three bodies; none of them are McGarrett or Williams,"_ he was quick to report. _"Though one of them looks like it could be one of our suspects; Stuart Craft."_

"Understood," Chin replied, "leave them for now until we've cleared the house."

"_Yes, sir."_

Chin turned to Kono before they continued their movement forward. "Looks like Brennan's got rid of his hired help."

Kono nodded. "Let's hope that's all the help he had then."

The two cousins came to stop just inside the cover of the trees where they had a clear view of the front of the house. They took in their surroundings quickly, taking in the layout of the building and looking for any signs of movement.

Chin spoke into his com. "We're in position; no sign of movement at the front of the building."

Duke's voice responded through their ear-pieces, "_Understood, we're in position in the tree line at the rear of the building."_

After three more replies confirming that everyone was in position, Chin ordered. "Two groups move in to the doors of the building."

Chin and Kono crouched low as they ran across the open space between them and the front porch of the house, two other HPD officers joining them from another direction. They took up position on either side of the front door and listened for any movement inside.

"We're in position at the front door," Chin reported to the two officers covering the back entrance.

"_As are we; awaiting your order,_" came the reply.

Chin nodded to the officers surrounding him before ordering, "Move in!"

Kono kicked open the unlocked front door and Chin advanced into the house with his shotgun raised. Behind him, the two HPD officers and Kono followed and their shouts echoed through the relatively empty space.

"Matthew Brennan; Five-0!"

"HPD!"

Shouts from the other officers could also be heard emanating from the back of the house.

Chin and Kono moved out of the entrance way as one of the HPD officers yelled that it was clear. They moved into a small sitting room connected with the kitchen and swept their guns over the room.

"Clear!" Kono called out once they had covered every corner of the room.

"Bedroom's clear!" An officer called out from the other side of the house.

Lowering their guns, Chin and Kono took a closer look around the kitchen and dining area, both their eyes instantly locking onto the gun and badges that had been left on the table.

"That's Danny's gun," Kono commented as she and Chin took a step closer to the table to inspect the items.

"And their badges; at least we know we have the right place," Chin added.

"Lieutenant Kelly!" An officer called out from another room in the house. "The house is clear but we've found a door that looks like it might lead into a basement."

Chin and Kono wasted no time in joining the officers in the hallway where the door was located. The door was slightly ajar and both Chin and Kono took a moment to see if they could hear anything but it was to no avail. The officer who had called them over was standing by the door ready to open it for them to enter and with a nod from Chin he pulled it wide open.

Chin moved quickly into the room, followed closely by Kono and two of the officers as he stepped onto a small wooden landing at the top of a flight of stairs. He continued down the stairs somewhat to give the others more space to enter, scanning the room with both his eyes and his shotgun but stopped still when he realised it was empty.

Kono frowned as she took in the deserted room in front of them. "They're not here."

"But they were," Chin pointed to the two chairs that were still occupying the room, one still pushed up against the window. Lowering their weapons for the time-being, they quickly made their way down the stairs to survey the room.

Chin walked over to the pillar and studied the chair that was now sitting slightly askew beside it. Dropping to one knee he examined a small amount of blood on the floor by the chair. "I've got blood here," he announced to Kono and the HPD officers.

"So do I," Kono called out from where she stood by the window. "There's some small smears along the window sill and the window's still ajar." Turning away from the window, Kono walked to stand beside Chin. "You thinking what I'm thinking, Cuz?"

Chin nodded, "Yeah; McGarrett and Danny managed to escape."

Kono looked back out the window to the heavy rain continuing to fall. "Which means they're out there in this rain with Brennan after them."

"Then it's our job to find them," Chin stated as he turned back around to the HPD officers that had accompanied them into the house. "We need to get search parties out there. Duke," he spoke into his earpiece. "Call the paramedics and have them wait here and call for medivac."

"_They're not going to fly in this weather, Chin,"_ Duke responded.

"I know, just have them on standby; they may be able to make a short flight if we need a quick evac." As he spoke, Chin exited the basement and walked back out towards the front of the building with Kono and the rest of the HPD officers following in his wake. "I want teams of two out there, report in the moment you find any trace of them." He opened the trunk of Kono's car and pulled out a GPS _locator_ and their camouflaged rain ponchos. He turned back to Kono as she pulled the poncho over her head. "We'll start at the back of the house and see if we can find any trace of where they may have escaped to."

Kono nodded and followed her cousin over to the basement window to start their search. Around them, the HPD officers had already started into the woods, looking for any sign of the two missing members of Five-0.

oOo

Danny was finding it hard to keep a firm grip on his friend as he attempted to ignore the incessant throbbing in his skull that was making it hard to focus. He cursed the damned cuffs that still linked them together which made it impossible for him to support Steve properly as they walked, though at the same time he was grateful for them as he knew that his idiot of a partner would probably make him leave him behind if they weren't still attached.

They had been walking in what Danny was hoping was the right direction for what felt like an eternity, and Danny was sure any turtle that may be in the area would be able to outpace them easily at the speed they were travelling. Danny had been doing his best to lead them in the right direction back to the house but without Steve's expert tracking eyes and with the heavy rain washing away most of the obvious tracks, he was relying mostly on instinct. The fact that he had yet to stumble across the driveway had him more than a little concerned.

Danny spared another look at Steve as he leaned heavily against him and was amazed that the man was still on his feet and able to walk, though it was easy to see that the effort was taking a lot out of him as his eyes were barely more than slits. He could see that the bullet wound was bleeding again, slowly staining the right side of his shirt and the top of his cargo pants and his breaths were short and rapid.

Despite the effort he was putting into moving them forward, Danny's body continued to shiver and he couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to feel his toes inside his sodden loafers. Feeling his partner's body trembling against his own, Danny panted out, "How you doing there, buddy?" His voice trembled slightly between his chattering teeth.

It took Steve a moment to reply and when he did it was barely above a whisper. "Alright."

Danny knew it was a lie but at least Steve hadn't dared to utter the word 'fine' to him again.

Steve almost felt as though he was floating, like his body had switched over to autopilot and he was just an observer for their trek back through the rainforest, except for the ever-present pain. The cold had numbed his body somewhat but it did next to nothing to extinguish the pain, instead the aches which had previously been more independent of one other seemed to have merged together so his entire body felt like it was throbbing painfully. Then there was the pain in his side, his ankle and his head which was different and sharper than the ache encompassing the rest of his body.

He pushed himself forward, willpower and training the only two things keeping him moving with Danny's constant support keeping him upright.

He managed several more stumbled steps forward before the blackness that had been blurring the corners of his vision encompassed his entire sight and his body seemed to grow heavier. As he felt himself begin to fall heavily against his partner he managed a small, whispered apology.

"Sorry, Danny."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Danny had barely a second to react to Steve's words before the former SEAL became a dead-weight against him and the two of them started in the direction of the ground. Danny managed to catch Steve enough to prevent them from both landing hard into the mud.

"Steve? Steve!" Danny shook his friend's shoulder to try to bring him around. When the former SEAL stayed stubbornly unconscious, Danny quickly checked for a pulse, relieved when he felt the beat beneath his fingers, even if it was weaker and faster than he would have liked. Danny tried to rouse his partner again by tapping the side of his face and he cursed under his breath when he still got no reaction.

Looking around at their current surroundings, Danny noticed a large Bunyan tree to their right with an opening in the roots that appeared large enough to fit them both and looked as though it would provide them with some form of shelter. Deciding that it was their best and only option for the time-being, Danny grabbed a hold of Steve's wrists and began pulling him in the direction of the makeshift shelter. His shoulder burned at the strain that was placed on it as he made a slow start towards the tree. Hauling his partner up the side of a cliff had been no picnic even when Steve had been conscious to aid in the effort and this time was proving even harder with Steve acting as a dead-weight and his own injuries making an impact.

Danny glanced behind him to see that he was merely five feet away from his destination and he continued to pull, ignoring the searing pain emanating from his shoulder. He reached the entrance to the gap in the roots and took a moment to catch his breath before he could haul his partner the rest of the way. The ground around the base of the tree was uneven and proved to be difficult to drag Steve's unconscious form over. Deciding that it was best to do it quickly, Danny gave one big heave to pull his partner into the relative shelter of the tree.

As he pulled, a searing pain ripped through his right shoulder and he cried out harshly, still managing to complete his task and he and Steve practically fell into the confines of the tree's roots. Danny pulled his arm in against his body, swearing at the intense pain in his shoulder and he shut his eyes as he grit his teeth and leaned against part of the tree trunk.

"Sonofabitch!" He cursed loudly, opening his eyes only to glance at his shoulder, the sickening sight only confirming what he had suspected as a dislocated shoulder. Clamping his mouth shut again, he swallowed down the bile at the back of his throat that had appeared when he'd laid eyes on the dislocated appendage.

He groaned again, gritting his teeth together hard as he attempted to suppress the pain. Opening his eyes again, he checked on his partner who was still lying to his left and he was relieved to see that he had managed to drag him further enough into the relative shelter of the tree roots.

The occasional drop of rain continued to land on them though it was certainly an improvement on earlier. Danny grunted as he shifted himself closer to Steve; at the moment they both felt as cold as popsicles but Danny knew they needed to preserve what little body heat they had between them.

Danny hugged his aching arm to his body and looked out to where the rain was still falling heavily, knowing that he couldn't afford to stay where they were for too long. He was sure that by now either Rachel or Gabby would have sounded the alarm that something was wrong and as much faith as he had in the rest of his team there was no way to guarantee that anyone knew where to look for them. Steve had been right; getting back to Brennan's house was their only option, no matter what condition they were both in and who they might find there.

TBC

oOo

_A/N: I had several requests for a bit more Danny whump, so I threw in a tad extra; I hope the Danny whump-a-holics are somewhat satisfied with my meagre offering in this chapter ;)_

_Thanks for reading!_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Okay, it's official; I'm the WORST person ever! I am SO sorry for the huge delay in posting this chapter! To cut a long story short, real life went berserk and I finished off my course and started my first full time job which ate up all my time for fanfiction. So in the words of the almighty Bryan Adams 'Please Forgive Me'! And the wait is finally over, I hope you enjoy the chapter despite the ridiculous wait for it!_

oOo

Chin knew they needed to be moving faster than the pace he and Kono were making but the trail that had been easy to follow earlier had been degraded by the rainfall, making any chance of tracking almost impossible. He'd always considered himself to be a good tracker after growing up trekking through these rainforests with his father and various uncles but after spending the better part of a day tracking assassins and a witness through similar terrain with McGarrett he'd come to realise that there were subtler signs in nature that he had been overlooking in the past. It was some of these same oversights pointed out to him by McGarrett well over a year ago now that was aiding him in finding their missing team members and a small part of him appreciated the irony that he was using the knowledge in order to find the man whom had imparted it on him.

Kono kept her hand resting on her holstered weapon, her eyes and ears on high alert as she swept their surroundings. So far it seemed as though Steve and Danny had been keeping within view of the driveway seemingly in the hope of it leading them in the right direction and she was holding onto the hope that it stayed that way as she was sure her cousin would find it easier to follow the almost invisible trail that way.

Those hopes started to fade, however as Chin paused and turned his head in the direction leading away from the driveway. "They went this way," he commented with a small frown, "and going by the tracks still left behind, I'd say it was in a hurry."

"You mean like they knew someone was after them?" Kono gripped her sidearm instinctively as she glanced around the foliage again.

"I'd say that's a good bet," Chin didn't remove his eyes from the tracks he was following, the signs were still difficult to see and he was afraid of losing the trail if he glanced away.

Kono continued to follow her cousin closely with her hand still on her sidearm, ignoring the rivulets of water running down her back which had managed to find a way under the poncho she was wearing. After several minutes of silence between them, the sound of the rain hitting the leaves began to fade until the shower came to an end with the only noise coming from the rain-soaked foliage dripping onto the forest floor.

Kono looked up to the small patch of sky visible through the canopy to see that weak rays of sun were attempting to filter through the clouds. "It's about time we got a break in the weather."

"These tracks are getting easier to follow," Chin stated as he surveyed the ground before them, "it looks like at least three men have been through here; the rain hasn't been able to wash away all this evidence just yet. We need to pick up the pace."

Kono nodded, relieved to be moving faster after their friends' trail and she easily quickened her stride behind Chin.

"_Chin, it's Duke, over."_

Chin quickly responded to the static voice in his ear, "Duke, have you found something?"

"_Not yet I'm afraid, but I just heard back from medivac; the helicopter's just taken off and is about ten minutes out, apparently the cloud lifted enough for them to make the flight. They're going to scan the forest from the air as they fly over."_

Chin and Kono shared a look of immense relief at Duke's words. Chin started walking again as he replied, "That's good to hear, we're still following the trail from the basement, hopefully it's taking us in the right direction; we'll radio if we find something."

"_Copy that, Chin."_ Duke ended the radio call as the cousins picked up their pace again with renewed hope.

oOo

Danny shook his head to prevent himself from succumbing to the cold and exhaustion that was calling him to close his eyes and fall asleep. He didn't know exactly how long he and Steve had been sheltering for but all of his instincts were telling him that it had been way too long. They needed to keep moving, back to the house where their only chance of escape and survival was but at the moment that task was too great; at least with the handcuffs still securely locked around their wrists. Danny was sure he would have been able to make the trip alone but with Steve still unconscious there was no way he could get them both back.

He continued to stare at the metal rings that were essentially anchoring them to the spot. He had already tried half-heartedly to pick the lock but with nothing but flimsy, wet sticks and with a busted arm he hadn't been expecting to succeed. He had even tried to dislocate his thumb like he had helped Steve to do but it seemed that when he actually wanted a dislocated appendage the universe wouldn't grant him one. And then there was Brennan's gun. Danny had seriously considered using it to shoot the cuff off, with Joe's sarcastic offer from not long ago ringing through his head. However, he had to admit to himself that he wasn't one hundred percent sure that it would work and wasting ammunition wasn't an option when he still didn't know if Brennan had any help lurking through the jungle or waiting back at the house.

He glanced back down at his partner, seeing that he was still out for the count with a frown plastered across his unconscious face and his breaths still short and rapid. At least the signs clearly showed that Steve was merely unconscious and while the trembling wasn't something comforting to see at least he wasn't so far gone that his body was no longer able to attempt to generate its own heat.

Danny shivered violently again as another drop of rain ran down his bare back and he glanced out to where the rain continued to fall outside their leaky shelter. As he was watching, the sound of the rain in the trees lessened as it became easier to see and it wasn't long until the downpour ended completely. Danny continued to stare out at the forest for a few moments longer as he absorbed the good luck they'd been given. He waited several more moments to ensure that the rain didn't start up again before turning back to Steve.

Deciding that it was now or never to get moving he tried to rouse his prone partner. Grabbing Steve's shoulder with his good arm, Danny shook him gently while calling out. "Steve! Hey, Steve it's time to get a move on." When his partner still didn't stir Danny shook his shoulder harder. "Steve! C'mon, we need to get outta here so stop sleeping on the job!"

This time his efforts resulted in a small frown and an unintelligible sound coming from Steve but he still remained stubbornly unconscious. Glancing desperately outside again Danny knew he had to get them moving somehow but there was still the problem of a two hundred pound Navy SEAL and a handcuff keeping them from going anywhere.

Deciding that Steve would thank him later, Danny turned back to his partner and used his good arm to slap him across the face while yelling in the most military voice he could muster, "McGarrett!" He winced as the sound of his hand connecting with his friend's face sounded loudly around him.

The hit accomplished what he had intended however, and Steve's eyes flew open as he gasped, his un-cuffed hand wrapping around his torso and clutching his injured side. "D-Danny?" His chattering teeth made the word difficult to get out and he blinked several times in order to bring his partner's face into focus.

Danny could have cried with relief when Steve's gaze focused on him. "It's about damn time, Sleeping Beauty! C'mon, I need you to move your ass so we can get outta here, I thought you might object to being dragged," he held up the cuffs to emphasise his point.

Steve glanced around their surroundings as his partner spoke, not knowing how they had got into their current location or even where their current location might be for that matter. All he could focus on was how much he hurt. It was everywhere, all through his body and as much as he knew he needed to be paying attention to Danny he was finding it hard to focus on anything else at the moment. All it was was pain and cold.

"Steve? Steve!" His name accompanied by his partner's hand shaking his shoulder brought Danny back into focus again and he turned his head slightly to see him better.

"Can you hear me?" Danny was more encouraged this time when Steve was able to maintain his focus and he nodded in reply. "Okay, good. Now I know it's the last thing you want to be doing right now but we need to move and I can't do it on my own so you're gonna have to prove to me that my daughter's right in calling you 'super-SEAL'. Can you do that?"

Could he do that?_ Of course I can do that, you're a SEAL, McGarrett now get up and act like one!_ "Yeah," he replied and gave a small nod, trying to summon up the energy to move, knowing that even with years of training and experience with managing pain it was going to be a monumental effort.

"Okay, I'll help you sit up," Danny gripped the back of Steve's shirt to help pull him up when he was ready. His partner's face had somehow managed to pale even more upon awakening and Danny found himself doubting if he would be able to make it up.

"Okay," Steve nodded to Danny and braced himself for the onslaught of pain that he knew would accompany the movement but he still wasn't prepared when every nerve seemed to be on fire when he half pushed and was half pulled into a semi-sitting position. The world turned to grey around him as he cried out and for a second he thought he might fall straight back down again but with his partner supporting him yet again he managed to stay upright. His head throbbed unbearably at the movement and the pain from the gunshot wound in his side stole his breath away for several moments, tempting him to fall back into oblivion. However, with a few encouraging words from his partner and several slower breaths, his vision began to return to normal and he was able to pick up clearly on what his partner was saying.

"See not so bad, huh?" Danny downplayed his concerns at Steve's obvious pain.

Steve breathed out heavily in a small attempt at a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, piece of cake." Neither of them mentioned their serious doubt of Steve's ability to get to his feet.

"What happened to your arm?" Steve noticed Danny's misaligned appendage for the first time.

"It objected to dragging your heavy ass out of the rain," he brushed off Steve's concern. "We have to keep moving and to do that you're going to need to be on your feet."

"Danny..." Steve hated almost more than anything to admit to not being able to do something, but he was also a realist and he knew the chances of him walking anytime soon were slim. His body was still shaking and his fingers and feet were more than a little numb. And then there was the unbearable throbbing in his head that had him on the brink of passing out again and the still seeping wound in his side.

"Uh uh uh, don't you _'Danny'_ me, you are going to stand up and we are going to walk out of this mess you landed us in!"

"I thought we agreed that you got us in this mess," he whispered back and Danny was annoyed and surprised that his partner was still able to manage to smirk at him under the circumstances.

"That doesn't give you the excuse to-" Danny began before Steve cut him off.

"Shh!"

"What?" Danny frowned, surprised and a little more than annoyed. "No! You're going to-"

"No, listen!" Steve insisted, his eyes closed with his brow furrowed in concentration. "Do you hear that?"

Danny frowned as he tried to pick up on what Steve had heard, straining his ears as he listened. And then he heard it. It had to be the sweetest sound in the world to him right now as the distinct _thwack thwack thwack thwack_ grew louder. Looking back to Steve he confirmed the noise. "Chopper."

Steve breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't been imagining the noise; it had been a blessing to him on so many occasions similar to this that he had been afraid that his mind was playing a cruel trick on him.

"Wait," Danny's unease returned. "What if it's not for us? It may just be a coincidence." He looked to Steve for his opinion.

"Worth the risk, whoever it is, they won't be with Brennan." Steve felt his remaining strength wavering and the edge of his vision was blurring again. He was sure it had to be for them, and even if it wasn't, he knew that Brennan wouldn't have any resources at his disposal, much less access to a copter. "You need to get their attention," he added, quickly losing his grip on consciousness.

"And when did we become a one man team?" Danny turned back in time to see his partner's eyes roll back as he collapsed back to the ground behind them. "Steve!" Danny quickly checked for a pulse, his heart hammering in his chest until he felt a beat beneath his fingers. "Dammit, Steve!" He cursed out of frustration and concern. Danny could still hear the chopper above the canopy, it seemed to be moving slowly and Danny hoped it was because it was searching for them. Hoping that Brennan had no hired help still scouring the jungle for them that he would alert to their position, Danny grabbed Brennan's revolver and shot three successive shots out of their hiding place, ensuring there were still enough rounds left in case he needed them.

With no other way of alerting the helicopter to their position he hoped he'd done enough to get their attention and glancing back at Steve he found himself praying that it wouldn't be too late.

TBC

oOo

_A/N: So... was it almost worth the wait? Or am I still in the bad books? *Cowers behind laptop* I really can't thank you all enough for sticking with this little story despite me making you wait this long, you're amazing. And I mean it!_

_And to save you from having to ask, I have no intention of making you wait so long for the next chapter, it'll just come down to finding time around work :) Ok, rambling over...but seriously thanks for sticking with me! I will see you soon on chapter 10 :)_


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Thank you to everyone for staying with this story and for all the reviews and alerts, it's great to hear from you all! A nice long chapter to sink your teeth into this time!_

oOo

Chin was satisfied with the amount of distance he and Kono had been able to cover in the space of just five or so minutes, though he knew that the tracks that had been left behind pointed out that Steve and Danny mustn't have been in the best shape to be leaving such clear tracks to follow. As the thought crossed his mind for the hundredth time, his heart seemed to stop as he found the most disturbing evidence yet.

"Kono!" He called out as be knelt down to examine the ground in front of him.

"What've you got, Chin?" She didn't need her cousin to reply as she saw what had made him stop and she barely managed to catch the gasp that escaped at the discovery. Even with the recent downpour, the blood was clearly visible as it stained the foliage and mud on the ground.

"It's hard to say how fresh it is after this rain," Chin stated, concern written clearly on his face.

Not feeling the need to study it any closer and add to her growing sense of dread, Kono stood up and scanned their surroundings, again resting her hand on her sidearm as something caught her eye not far from their position. Taking a few steps forwards, she drew her weapon in a hurry as she saw what lay ahead of them and jogged forward as she called out. "Chin! Up ahead!" Kono's heart felt like it would leap from her chest as she quickly approached the body, praying that if it was Steve or Danny that they were merely unconscious.

Chin reacted quickly, drawing his own weapon and running to reach his cousin as he took in the sight of the body, the formally white t-shirt now stained red and soaked through with rain.

The body was lying on its back and the cousins both breathed a sigh of relief as they easily identified it was Brennan's body they had stumbled across and not that of one of their friends'. Both of them kept their weapons drawn and pointed at Brennan as a precaution as Kono leant down to feel for a pulse, though both of them knew that with the amount of blood visible it was more than likely that the criminal was dead. Kono confirmed their thoughts when she was unable to find a pulse, "He's dead." They both looked at the stab wound obvious in Brennan's chest, satisfaction at the knowledge that Steve and Danny were responsible. "Good for them," Kono voiced what they were both thinking as Chin activated his radio.

"Duke, it's Chin. We've found Brennan; he's dead, stab wound to his chest."

Duke was quick to reply to the good news. _"That's good to hear, Chin. Medivac's arrived and is scanning the area. Any sign of McGarrett and Williams?"_ As he spoke the cousins could hear the sound of the blades from the Medivac chopper as it hovered nearby.

"Not yet, though we're hoping-" his answer was cut off and he and Kono snapped to attention as three gunshots cracked through the quiet rain forest and echoed around them. Without a second thought, Chin and Kono began sprinting in the direction of the gunfire with their weapons drawn. The shots had been close and both Chin and Kono prayed they hadn't come this close to rescuing their friends to fall short at the last moment.

Chin heard Duke in his ear again seconds after the shots sounded. _"Chin, was that-"_

"Gunfire, yes. We're not far from it now, we'll keep you posted," he replied breathlessly as he continued to run in the direction the noise had come from.

The cousins broke through the dense foliage and into a small clearing and halted, taking the time to take in their surroundings, sure that the gunfire had come from roughly in this area. A large banyan tree caught Chin's eye as a loud cry rang out through the clearing.

oOo

Danny kept the gun raised after firing three shots in the hope of drawing help to their location, mindful that help might not be the only thing close by. He glanced back down at Steve, concern bubbling uncomfortably in his gut as the memory of his partner passing out _again_ replayed in his mind; he needed help hours ago and he tried not to think that help may be too late this time.

The sound of snapping branches and footsteps thudding heavily on the forest floor made his head snap around and his shaking arm raise his only form of defence higher. Danny felt his heart race as he waited for whoever it was to enter the clearing, praying that their bad luck had come to an end.

He watched as two figures emerged from the foliage towards the left of their hiding place, each holding a raised weapon in front of them. Their faces were turned away from him and both were clad in ponchos but the back of their dark heads were clearly visible from where the hood of the poncho had been pulled back and Danny would know the long dark hair and skinny jeans that belonged to Five-0's rookie anywhere.

His heart soared as help finally arrived and he cried out as loud as he could as the eldest member of Five-0 turned his eyes to their shelter. "Chin! Kono! We're over here!"

Relief flooded every inch of his body as the cousins' turned at his call and his relief was echoed in their reply, "Danny!" Chin and Kono wasted no time in moving to their friend's side and within what felt like a split second Danny was staring close-up at the concern written in their eyes as they crouched down beside him. "You two have never looked so good in my life." Danny knew that his voice sounded as exhausted to them as it did to himself.

"I wish I could say the same about you," Chin felt sick at the state his friend was in and he found himself disappointed that Brennan had got the easy way out. It took just a split second for him to take in Danny's pallor which only highlighted the bruising around his chest, shoulder and face and the dried blood which had faded to the point of being nearly invisible in the rain.

"We need to get you and Steve to the medivac," Kono stated, her eyes now on the prone form of her boss as she tried to get closer in the confines of the banyan tree to see him better. "Is he-?"

"Still breathing," Danny could see the fear in her eyes, "but that's about all he can manage; he needed to be at a hospital yesterday," Danny emphasized as he looked back to Chin.

"The blood we found?" Chin asked grimly.

"Super-SEAL's," Danny confirmed as he pointed out the bullet wound in Steve's side.

Without another word, Chin stepped back and began talking into his radio. "Duke, we've got them but they're both in bad shape, I'm going to need the medivac chopper to land as close to our location as possible; I'll read you our coordinates." Chin pulled out their GPS locater and proceeded to relay their coordinates to Duke.

As Chin moved out of the way, Kono moved up to Danny, pulling out her handcuff keys as she did so, having noticed the cuff binding their wrists together. Once it was finally undone, Danny pulled his arm in and used it to support his opposite throbbing appendage, silently revelling in finally having two usable arms. He nodded his thanks to Kono, finding speaking too exhausting as his adrenaline began to wane now that help had arrived.

Kono placed a warm hand on his good shoulder, "It's good to see you both again, Brah," her voice was filled with sincerity. The contact brought her attention to just how cold Danny was as his shivering became more apparent and she remembered the small first aid kit Chin had had the good sense in making her carry. Unhooking it from where it hung from her belt she wasted no time in opening it and grabbing the thermal blanket she knew was inside.

"He needs it more than I do," Danny protested as she placed it over his shoulders and wrapped it around his front to keep the warmth in.

"Then you can take turns," Kono held the blanket firmly in place, "it looks like he could use a real bandage anyway, though I'm impressed with your Bear Grylls attempt." She smirked and Danny couldn't help but give a small smile.

Carefully manoeuvring past Danny, Kono moved into their shelter and knelt beside Steve, her breath catching in her throat as she got her first decent look at her boss. His normal tan skin was disturbingly pale except for where dark bruises and cuts marred his face and his trembling lips which had taken on a bluish tinge. Fearing it was from lack of oxygen, Kono quickly checked his pulse and breaths, finding both were still present and she put the colour down to cold; something she still didn't find comforting and she wished the measly first aid kit carried two blankets.

Turning her attention to the wound on his right side the dread in her gut grew as she took in the blood stained pieces of shirt being held in place by a belt. Gently pulling up the edges of one of the cloths, Kono tried to get a better view of the wound and was somewhat relieved to see that there was only a small amount of blood seeping from the wound. Deciding that there was no way she would be able to lift the unconscious SEAL to wrap a fresh bandage around his abdomen, Kono used the few pieces of gauze from the kit to pack the wound, placing the fresh, clean material under his soaked shirt and against the wound instead of the soaked through shirt Danny had used. Once the gauze was in place, Kono tightened the belt another notch to hold it firmer, trying not to think about what infection Steve would have from lying on the sodden forest floor for God knows how long.

Danny watched silently as Kono worked, feeling somewhat detached from the situation and he began to lose focus on his surroundings. Kono must have noticed because the next thing he knew she was right in front of him and gently tapping his face to get his attention.

"Hey! You still with me, Danny? 'Cause we've got a little girl who's counting on us to bring her father back in one piece, alright?"

"Grace," Danny's focus returned in a hurry at the thought of his daughter and Kono was pleased to see him more alert.

"That's right, she's ready and waiting to see you when we get back."

Chin took that moment to return, having finished relaying information to Duke and the medivac. "Medivac's headed to the closest clearing to drop in two of their paramedics; it's approximately a quarter mile north of where we are. They're going to meet us here and help us get you two on board the chopper."

"Good," Kono nodded to her cousin from her position next to Steve, "just make sure they hurry."

"And tell them to bring a couple of steaming cups of coffee," Danny added through chattering teeth, bringing a small smile to the cousins' lips.

"No luck, Brah," Kono smiled, "But keep your eyes open 'til then and it's my shout for the rest of the year."

"You're on," Danny smiled.

Chin placed his hand against his ear as the radio came to life again. "Copy that," he replied after just a moment. "Medivac just dropped their guys in; it should be another five minutes."

Danny managed to keep his promise of keeping his eyes open until then, though it felt like the longest five minutes of his life. Everything was numb; from shock or cold he wasn't sure though a part of him knew it was probably a little of both. It was relieving and terrifying all at once; on one hand, the pain from his various injuries seemed to have fallen silent but on the other hand he knew that it wasn't for any good reason that he had been granted this relief.

He was pulled from his daze at a commotion in front of him as Chin disappeared into the forest only to emerge seconds later with two men carrying a medivac basket between them. He watched as they jogged the last few feet towards him and set the basket down and made a beeline for him.

"Uh uh uh," he tried to push away the first paramedic's hands as they reached for him. "My partner-"

"I'm aware, Detective; I need you to come aside with me while we get your partner out and into the basket, can you do that for me?" Danny knew from his tone that it wasn't a question and, satisfied that Steve was going to get the attention he needed, he humoured him and nodded. He allowed the paramedic to help him up and away from the confines of the banyan tree, seating him down again just a short distance away from where the second paramedic was moving over to Steve.

"My name's Paul Doherty, sorry to have to meet under these circumstances," the paramedic introduced himself as he opened his medical kit.

"Danny Williams," Danny replied as he made sure he had a view of Steve from their position.

"So I've heard; you two had a lot of people worried by the sound of it."

Danny allowed Doherty to take his vitals and examine his various injuries, paying most attention to the cut on his head and his dislocated shoulder while Danny kept focused on what was happening to Steve, grimacing whenever the technician touched anywhere that was particularly sore.

"You really picked a miserable day to go for a hike through this forest."

"My words exactly," Danny appreciated his attempt to lighten the mood and gave a pained smile, still not moving his attention from Steve.

After examining his shoulder, Doherty pulled a roll of bandages from the medical kit at his side as he reported, "I'm not going to set your shoulder here, but I am going to strap it for the flight back so we don't do more damage to it in the meantime, by then I'm sure we'll have your partner ready to be transported and we can get moving."

Doherty waited until Danny nodded his understanding before he began to expertly strap the dislocated appendage against the detective's chest. While he worked, Danny continued to watch what was happening with Steve. The second paramedic could just be seen in banyan tree's roots from where he sat but Danny wasn't able to see exactly what he was doing. Kono was still at Steve's side and Danny could see her responding to whatever the paramedic was saying to her as she aided him. It wasn't long before he watched the two of them with Chin carrying his partner out of the shelter and over to the basket awaiting them.

He watched as Kono supported Steve's head as Chin and the second paramedic took most of Steve's weight, his neck encompassed in a brace which Danny knew would just be standard procedure. The paramedic was cradling a fluid bag between his shoulder and neck as they began lowering Steve into the basket, pointing out that he had already set up an IV fluid line and he could see that a clean bandage was now wrapped around his abdomen.

Danny glanced down at his shoulder as Doherty completed his task, his shoulder feeling marginally better now that it was strapped.

"Alright, that'll do it for now," Doherty clapped Danny's good shoulder. "I'm going to have one of your team help you back to the chopper-"

"I'm fine-" Danny tried to protest before he was cut off.

"No you're not; quite frankly we'd normally have you in a basket to transport you but I'm afraid we have just the one, so you're going to take the help that you need with no arguments _and_ you're going to keep that thermal blanket around you until we get back to the chopper and we can get you into something warmer." He didn't give Danny the chance to say anything more as he called for Kono to come over and help Danny to his feet.

Once he was standing, Doherty went over to Steve to help his partner carry him to the medivac chopper with Chin's help, lifting the basket up easily between the three of them. Kono wrapped an arm around Danny's shoulder as they started moving, wanting to provide as much warmth as she did support. The two didn't say a word as they followed them through the forest back to where the chopper was waiting for them.

Danny focused on his feet as he forced them to keep moving one after the other, the thought that this was almost over spurring him on. Danny found himself leaning heavily against Kono, the pride at wanting to walk unaided out of this nightmare giving in to the overwhelming exhaustion and need for support.

Kono was relieved when they reached the clearing where the chopper was hovering above them, as she had started to fear that Danny wouldn't make it standing as she carried what felt like most of his weight. She continued to keep him upright as Steve's basket and one of the paramedics were attached to the cables lowered from the helicopter and started their ascent.

The second paramedic, Doherty, turned to Danny. "We're next," he yelled to be heard over the top of the wind that the helicopter was buffeting around them. He turned to Chin and Kono, "I'm afraid you two won't be able to come for the ride; there's not enough space for an extra body in the chopper. We'll be taking them to Queens."

Chin and Kono both nodded, knowing that their chances of staying with their team members had been slim. Above them, the cables were lowered once again and Doherty wasted no time in strapping Danny into a harness and attaching the cables to lift them both up.

"Hold on; this isn't going to be comfortable," he warned Danny.

Danny nodded, finding that he didn't particularly care if the ride was comfortable or not as long as it got them away from here and somewhere with some damn good pain relief. The harness dug into his skin as he felt his feet leave the ground and he began to swing as they were pulled up. Danny clamped his mouth and eyes shut as the movement brought his nausea back to the foreground and he swallowed several times in an attempt to keep it at bay.

Doherty must have noticed and he called out, "It's a short ride, I promise."

Danny didn't respond as he kept a tight grip on the rope he was attached to and his slowly slipping consciousness. True to Doherty's word however, he soon felt himself being manoeuvred into the chopper, the blades almost deafening above him. He opened his eyes and aided in getting themselves into the copter, though Doherty ended up doing most of the work. The door was slid shut as he unattached himself from the harness and he turned to see his partner still in the cradle on the floor next to him, the paramedic in the process of cutting off his sodden clothes.

"Paul! I could use some help with this one; we need to get him into something warm, his temp's 89.8, and I want to get another line in; I'm not happy with his BP," the paramedic called to Doherty after he'd called to the pilot to get moving.

"You've got it," Doherty was at his side in an instant, getting another IV line ready to go.

"And get a tube out in case we need to intubate; his chest sounds aren't great."

Danny wanted to help; he wanted to at least ask if his partner was going to make it after all the events of the past day; _God, had it only been a day?_ But all he could do was sit and watch as they worked to save his friend, his vision tunnelling and the sound around him fading before he felt himself fall to the floor of the helicopter and his vision went black.

TBC

oOo


End file.
